While making their debut at the Olympic Games, at Tokyo 2020, Bahrain were one of the big surprises of the competition, becoming the only Asian team to make the quarter-finals, where they lost against eventual champions, France, 28:42. It was a big success which heralded the improvements made by Bahrain over the last decade.

It was a huge achievement for Bahrain, which had made their debut at the IHF Men’s World Championship only in 2011, when they finished 23rd, but had an upward trajectory in their next appearances, with a 23rd place at France 2017, a 20th place at Denmark/Germany 2019, a 21st place at Egypt 2021 and a 16th place at Poland/Sweden 2023.

The last edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship also brought Bahrain’s first-ever win in the competition against an European side, 30:28, against Belgium, proving that the Asian side is on the rise, with excellent results also in the junior categories, both continentally and at the world handball flagship competition.

The Asian side won two matches at the previous edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship, which was a huge boost for them, but failed to capitalise at the AHF Asian Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament, where they beat Qatar in the semi-finals, but faltered against Japan in the final, conceding the direct place for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with a 29:32 loss.

Once again, Bahrain were poised to take something from the 2024 AHF Asian Men’s Handball Championship, being dubbed as favourites on their home court, but conceded a painful loss once again against Japan in the semi-finals, 17:20, settling for the bronze medal with a 26:17 against Kuwait.

However, in the semi-final against Japan, several Bahrain players showed an extremely disrespectful behaviour towards the referees who officiated the match and were suspended by the IHF Executive Committee, with star centre back Hussain Alsayyad receiving a 2-month suspension from participating in any national and international competitions. Ali Merza, Mohamed Habib, Mohammed Merza and Mohammed Husain were also hit with suspensions and will not feature in the Olympic Qualification Tournament #1.

This leaves Bahrain with a big hole in their squad, one which will be difficult to replace. The Asian side is now a big underdog in this Olympic Qualification Tournament, with more experienced sides like Spain and Slovenia, as well as Brazil leading the pack, which might prove impossible for the Asian side to contend with.    

Key players: Ali Abdulla Eid (line player), Hesham Isa (goalkeeper), Jasim Khamis (right back)
History at the Olympic Games: 2020: 8th
Olympic Qualification Tournament #1 (in Granollers, Spain): Spain, Slovenia, Bahrain, Brazil