Kuwait to face Portsmouth tomorrow
Kuwait’s national football team is set for a strong test when they face English club Portsmouth in a friendly match at 3:00 PM tomorrow, Wednesday, as part of their training camp in the British capital, London, in preparation for the new season.
This is the second match for “The Whites” in the camp, which runs until August 16, following a loss in their first game to Milton Keynes Dons, a club owned by Kuwaiti investors that has been promoted to the English First Division for the upcoming season.
“The Whites” are scheduled for another match in London, where they will face second-division Barnet on August 9. Meanwhile, the delegation’s management has left the door open for a fourth match, with the opponent and date to be determined later based on the decision of Portuguese head coach Alexandre Santos.
Portsmouth competes in the English Championship, and the matchup offers a good opportunity for Kuwait and their incoming coach, Santos, to assess the team’s technical and physical progress after ten days of daily training at the camp.
Santos is expected to continue his approach of giving opportunities to a large number of players, as he did against Milton Keynes Dons, by fielding different lineups for each half to maximize benefits before entering a busy season. The team faces domestic commitments and a major external challenge: participation in the AFC Champions League Two, for which they qualified as winners of the 2026 AFC Challenge League.
“The Whites” await the continental draw scheduled for August 18, before beginning their group stage journey on September 15.
In their camp in Izmit, Turkey, Al-Qadsiah defeated Saudi club Al-Arabi 3-1 in their second friendly match.
“The Greens” are preparing to depart for Kolkata, India, on Thursday to face local side East Bengal on August 12 in a playoff match to qualify for the group stage of the AFC Champions League Two.
Meanwhile, the Al-Thaqafah football team delegation is departing tomorrow, Wednesday, for Cairo, Egypt, to hold a preparatory camp for the upcoming season, lasting until August 19.
The “Blue of Farwaniya” are led by Bosnian coach Igor Remeš, whom the management signed in February last year, with the aim of achieving better results in the near future.
The club’s management has been active in the transfer market this summer, finalizing several deals including the signing of Ivorian Aboubacar Doumbia and Brazilian Marlon Santos, as well as renewing contracts with Ivorian player Desiré Zeli, Frenchman Zakaria Slimani, and Syrian Ahmed Al-Dali, who all played for the team last season.
Locally, Al-Thaqafah attracted a large number of players, including a quintet from Al-Qadsiah: Faisal Al-Shatti, Turki Al-Yousef, and Saud Qasim (free transfers), along with Mohammed Al-Sharifi and goalkeeper Abdulaziz Abidin (on loan). The club also added goalkeeper Naif Al-Azmi, Fawaz Al-Khalidi, Ahmed Rahil, Abdulrahman Al-Rashidi, and Bandar Al-Azmi.
