Saudi Arabia national football team

Saudi Arabia

Nickname(s)	الأخضر (al-‘Akhḍar, "The Green One") الصقور الخضر (aṣ-Ṣuqūr al-‘Akhḍar, "The Green Falcons")
Association	Saudi Arabian Football Federation
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	WAFF (West Asia)
Head coach	Hervé Renard
Captain	Salman Al-Faraj
Most caps	Mohamed Al-Deayea (178)[1]
Top scorer	Majed Abdullah (72)[2]
FIFA code	KSA
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	65 (27 May 2021)[3]
Highest	21 (July 2004)
Lowest	126 (December 2012)
First international
Lebanon 1–1 Saudi Arabia  (Beirut, Lebanon; 18 January 1957)
Biggest win
Timor-Leste 0–10 Saudi Arabia  (Dili, East Timor; 17 November 2015)
Biggest defeat
United Arab Republic 13–0 Saudi Arabia  (Casablanca, Morocco; 3 September 1961)
World Cup
Appearances	5 (first in 1994)
Best result	Round of 16 (1994)
Asian Cup
Appearances	10 (first in 1984)
Best result	Champions, (1984, 1988, 1996)
Arabian Gulf Cup
Appearances	24 (first in 1970)
Best result	Champions, (1994, 2002, 2003)
FIFA Arab Cup
Appearances	7 (first in 1985)
Best result	Champions, (1998, 2002)
WAFF Championship
Appearances	3 (first in 2012)
Best result	Group stage (3 times)
FIFA Confederations Cup
Appearances	4 (first in 1992)
Best result	Runners-up (1992)
Medal record Men's football FIFA Confederations Cup 1992 Team AFC Asian Cup 1984 Team 1988 Team 1996 Team 1992 Team 2000 Team 2007 Team Asian Games 1986 Team 1982 Team FIFA Arab Cup 1998 Team 2002 Team 1992 Team 1985 Team

The Saudi Arabia national football team (Arabic: المنتخب العربي السعودي لكرة القدم‎) represents Saudi Arabia in men's international football and The team's colours are green and white. Saudi Arabia are known as Al-Suqour (The Falcons) and Al-Akhdhar (The Green), The team represents both FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Considered one of Asia's most successful national teams, Saudi Arabia have won the Asian Cup three times (1984, 1988, and 1996), reached a joint record six Asian Cup finals and have qualified for the World Cup on five occasions since debuting at the 1994 tournament. Saudi Arabia is the first AFC nation to reach the final of a senior FIFA competition, when it achieved during the 1992 King Fahd Cup, which would eventually become the eventual FIFA Confederations Cup. Only Japan managed to repeat this feat, in the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup.

In the 1994 World Cup under the leadership of Jorge Solari, Saudi Arabia beat both Belgium and Morocco in the group stage before falling to Sweden in the Round of 16. Thus Saudi Arabia became the second Arab national football team in history to reach the Round of 16 in a World Cup, after Morocco's Round of 16 elimination in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and one of the few Asian national football teams (others being Australia, Japan, South Korea, North Korea) to accomplish such a feat to date.

History

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The idea of a Saudi national team first came about in 1951, when a Saudi XI team consisting of players from Al-Wehda and Al-Ahli took part in a friendly game against the Egyptian Ministry of Health on June 27, 1951 at the Al-Saban Stadium in Jeddah. The following day, the Egyptians took on a Saudi team made up of players from Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal in Al-Bahri in Jeddah. On August 2, 1951, His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal organized a third friendly with the Egyptian team against a Saudi National XI with players from Al-Wehda, and Al-Ahli. By then the idea of a national select team to represent the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was already in full flow, and in 1953 the first-ever Saudi team traveled to play friendly matches abroad. The same year, a Saudi team traveled to Damascus to play friendly matches as part of then-Crown Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz’s visit to the country on April 1953.[4] In 1957, the Saudi national team took part in their first international tournament at the 2nd Pan-Arab Games in Beirut, where King Saud was invited to attend the opening ceremony and the inauguration of the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium with Lebanese President Camille Chamoun on October 18, 1957. The first game played at the stadium was between the national teams of Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Abdulmajeed Kayal scored for the Saudis while Levon Altonian netted for the home side. The Saudi players came from teams from Jeddah and Mecca, while the team was given support and encouragement from Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal for their trip to Beirut.[5]

Though their football federation was established in 1956, the Saudi Arabia national team did not participate in a tournament until they qualified for the AFC Asian Cup in 1984, which they won. They subsequently became one of Asia's most successful national teams, reaching the next four consecutive Asian Cup finals and winning two of them (1988 and 1996). They have qualified for every Asian Cup since, but their best performance in that period was reaching the final in 2007.

Saudi Arabia qualified for their first FIFA World Cup in 1994. Under the leadership of Jorge Solari and with talents like Saeed Al-Owairan and Sami Al-Jaber, reinforced by national veteran Majed Abdullah as team captain, Saudi Arabia beat both Belgium and Morocco in the group stage before falling to Sweden in the Round of 16. Saudi Arabia qualified for the next three World Cups, but did not win a group stage match in any of them. They failed to qualify for the 2010 and 2014 tournaments.

Saudi Arabia secured qualification for the 2018 tournament,[6] ahead of Australia. However, they started on a sour note by letting host Russia rout them 0–5 on the opening match,[7] making this the second largest victory of any host nation at the FIFA World Cup.[8] The record of the host's largest opening victory is still by Italy, beating the United States 7–1, in 1934.[9] Once again, Saudi Arabia failed to reach the next round, after suffering another defeat, this time, losing 0–1 to Uruguay.[10] Saudi Arabia's performance in the tournament was deemed to be their worst performance since 2002 World Cup, where they were beaten 8-0 by Germany in their opening game and finished 32nd and bottom in the final rankings.[11] Although they were eliminated,[12] they managed to salvage some pride by winning their final group stage match (and their first win at a World Cup since 1994) against Red Sea neighbours Egypt.[13]

After the 2018 World Cup, Saudi Arabia participated in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup with a very high optimism after an acceptable performance in the World Cup, with the Saudis won its first World Cup game since 1994 edition. However, Saudi Arabia finished second in the group stage, after falling to Qatar in the final game,[14] and had to face another giant, Japan, in the round of sixteen. The Saudis dominated the whole game, but ultimately lost 0–1 due to poor finishing and crashed out from the competition.[15]

On 15 October 2019, Saudi Arabia played its first-ever game with Palestine in the West Bank. The game marked a change in policy for Saudi Arabia, which has previously played matches against the Palestinian team in third-party countries, the visit was condemned by some Palestinian activists who considered the game as a start of normalizing the relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, but it was viewed by the Palestinian National Authority as a support for their sovereignty over the West Bank.[16] The game ended in a scoreless draw.[17]

Kits and crests

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saudi Arabia national football team kits.

The Saudi Arabia national football team's first kit are traditionally white and the second kit are green (flag colors).[18]

Kit suppliers

Kit supplier	Period
Admiral	1976–1980
Puma	1980–1984
Faison	1984–1990
Adidas	1990–1993
Shammel	1994–2001
Adidas	2001–2003
Le Coq Sportif	2004–2005
Puma	2005–2010
Nike	2011–present

Rivalries

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Due to historical reasons, matches against Iran have been frequently followed and seen by Saudis as the most important rival. This stems from the strong hatred between Saudi Arabia and Iran, in particular recent years due to religious sectarianism and historical enmities. Saudi Arabia is trailing behind the series, but only one game defeat, with 4 wins, 6 draws and 5 losses. It's one of 10 most heated rivalries with political influence.[19][20]

Saudi Arabia's other heated rival is Iraq. However, the rivalry only began in 1970s. Due to the Gulf War, which Iraq invaded Saudi Arabia's ally Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq eventually become bitter rival fighting to salvage Arab pride.[21] The two countries since then have an up-and-down in relations, often ranged from lack of cooperation and political confrontation. Iraq almost pulled out of the 21st Arabian Gulf Cup after the country was disallowed to host the competition in a move believed to be motivated by Saudi Arabia.[22]

Saudi Arabia's other rivals are mostly from the Gulf, notably Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Venues

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Historically, Saudi Arabia played most of their home matches in King Fahd International Stadium, located in the capital Riyadh. The stadium was also where some of Saudi Arabia's most important fixtures were when the country hosted the first three King Fahd Cups (predecessor of the Confederations Cup). The stadium was also home to some of Saudi Arabia's big games in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Saudi Arabia started to diversify the use of venues from outside Riyadh in the 2000s, with the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers first round played in Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam and the second round played entirely in Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers second round against Sri Lanka and at the first fixture against Uzbekistan in the third round, Saudi Arabia played again in Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium. It was accelerated from 2010s onward as Saudi Arabia began to play frequent home fixtures in newly-built King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah and Mrsool Park also in Riyadh.

Recent schedule and results

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The following is a list of match results from the previous 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2020

2021

Players

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Current squad

• The following 26 players were called up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Yemen, Singapore, and Uzbekistan on 5, 11, and 15 June 2021:[23]
• Match date: 5, 11, & 15 June 2021
• Opposition:  Yemen,  Singapore, &  Uzbekistan.
• Caps and goals are correct as of 15 June 2021, after the match against  Uzbekistan.
• Caps and goals including all matches officially recognized by SAFF (also those not recognized by FIFA).

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Mohammed Al-Owais	(1991-10-10) 10 October 1991 (age 29)	26	0	Al-Ahli
	1GK	Mohammed Al Rubaie	(1997-08-14) 14 August 1997 (age 23)	2	0	Al-Ahli
	1GK	Zaid Al-Bawardi	(1997-01-26) 26 January 1997 (age 24)	0	0	Al-Shabab
	1GK	Abdullah Al-Oaisher	(1991-05-13) 13 May 1991 (age 30)	0	0	Al-Wehda
	2DF	Yasser Al-Shahrani	(1992-05-25) 25 May 1992 (age 29)	61	1	Al-Hilal
	2DF	Mohammed Al-Breik	(1992-09-15) 15 September 1992 (age 28)	30	1	Al-Hilal
	2DF	Ali Al-Bulaihi	(1989-11-21) 21 November 1989 (age 31)	21	0	Al-Hilal
	2DF	Mohammed Al-Khabrani	(1993-10-14) 14 October 1993 (age 27)	17	2	Al-Ahli
	2DF	Sultan Al-Ghanam	(1994-05-06) 6 May 1994 (age 27)	12	0	Al-Nassr
	2DF	Hassan Tambakti	(1999-02-09) 9 February 1999 (age 22)	11	0	Al-Shabab
	2DF	Saud Abdulhamid	(1999-07-18) 18 July 1999 (age 22)	7	0	Al-Ittihad
	2DF	Abdullah Madu	(1993-07-15) 15 July 1993 (age 28)	6	0	Al-Nassr
	2DF	Abdulelah Al-Amri	(1997-01-15) 15 January 1997 (age 24)	2	1	Al-Nassr
	3MF	Fahad Al-Muwallad	(1994-09-14) 14 September 1994 (age 26)	61	17	Al-Ittihad
	3MF	Salman Al-Faraj (captain)	(1989-08-01) 1 August 1989 (age 32)	59	8	Al-Hilal
	3MF	Abdullah Otayf	(1992-08-03) 3 August 1992 (age 28)	41	1	Al-Hilal
	3MF	Abdulellah Al-Malki	(1994-10-11) 11 October 1994 (age 26)	13	0	Al-Ittihad
	3MF	Abdulrahman Ghareeb	(1997-03-31) 31 March 1997 (age 24)	12	1	Al-Ahli
	3MF	Mohammed Al-Kuwaykibi	(1994-12-02) 2 December 1994 (age 26)	9	0	Al-Ettifaq
	3MF	Sami Al-Najei	(1997-02-07) 7 February 1997 (age 24)	6	0	Al-Nassr
	3MF	Ali Al-Asmari	(1997-01-12) 12 January 1997 (age 24)	4	0	Al-Ahli
	3MF	Ali Al-Hassan	(1997-03-04) 4 March 1997 (age 24)	1	1	Al-Nassr
	3MF	Nasser Al-Dawsari	(1998-12-19) 19 December 1998 (age 22)	1	0	Al-Hilal
	4FW	Abdullah Al-Hamdan	(1999-09-12) 12 September 1999 (age 21)	13	4	Al-Hilal
	4FW	Firas al-Buraikan	(2000-05-14) 14 May 2000 (age 21)	11	3	Al-Nassr
	4FW	Saleh Al-Shehri	(1993-11-01) 1 November 1993 (age 27)	7	4	Al-Hilal

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Saudi Arabia squad within the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Amin Bukhari	(1997-05-02) 2 May 1997 (age 24)	0	0	Al-Ain	v.  Palestine, 30 March 2021
GK	Habib Al-Wotayan	(1996-08-08) 8 August 1996 (age 24)	0	0	Al-Hilal	v.  Jamaica, 17 November 2020
DF	Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti	(1999-03-12) 12 March 1999 (age 22)	0	0	Al-Ittihad	v.  Singapore, 11 June 2021 WD
DF	Ziyad Al-Sahafi	(1994-10-17) 17 October 1994 (age 26)	9	0	Al-Ittihad	v.  Palestine, 30 March 2021
DF	Ahmed Sharahili	(1993-07-06) 6 July 1993 (age 28)	1	0	Al-Shabab	v.  Kuwait, 25 March 2021 INJ
DF	Saeed Al-Rubaie	(1994-06-04) 4 June 1994 (age 27)	2	0	Al-Ettifaq	v.  Jamaica, 17 November 2020
DF	Abdullah Hassoun	(1997-03-19) 19 March 1997 (age 24)	1	0	Al-Ahli	v.  Jamaica, 17 November 2020
MF	Salem Al-Dawsari	(1991-08-19) 19 August 1991 (age 29)	56	15	Al-Hilal	v.  Uzbekistan, 15 June 2021 WD
MF	Mohamed Kanno	(1994-09-22) 22 September 1994 (age 26)	19	1	Al-Hilal	v.  Palestine, 30 March 2021
MF	Hassan Al-Amri	(1994-04-21) 21 April 1994 (age 27)	0	0	Al-Qadsiah	v.  Palestine, 30 March 2021
MF	Housain Al-Mogahwi	(1988-03-24) 24 March 1988 (age 33)	31	2	Al-Ahli	v.  Jamaica, 17 November 2020
MF	Hattan Bahebri	(1992-07-16) 16 July 1992 (age 29)	29	4	Al-Hilal	v.  Jamaica, 17 November 2020
MF	Turki Al-Ammar	(1999-09-23) 23 September 1999 (age 21)	4	0	Al-Shabab	v.  Jamaica, 17 November 2020
MF	Mukhtar Ali	(1997-10-30) 30 October 1997 (age 23)	4	0	Al-Nassr	v.  Jamaica, 17 November 2020
MF	Ayman Yahya	(2001-05-14) 14 May 2001 (age 20)	1	0	Al-Nassr	v.  Jamaica, 17 November 2020
MF	Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem	(1994-05-15) 15 May 1994 (age 27)	3	0	Al-Nassr	v.  Jamaica, 17 November 2020 WD
MF	Nawaf Al-Abed	(1990-01-26) 26 January 1990 (age 31)	48	8	Al-Shabab	v.  Jamaica, 14 November 2020 INJ
FW	Mohammed Maran	(2001-02-15) 15 February 2001 (age 20)	0	0	Al-Nassr	v.  Palestine, 30 March 2021
FW	Abdulfattah Adam	(1995-01-01) 1 January 1995 (age 26)	4	2	Al-Raed	v.  Jamaica, 17 November 2020
COV Player withdrew from the squad due to contracting COVID-19. INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. PRE Preliminary squad. RET Retired from the national team. SUS Player is serving a suspension. WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Player records

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As of 20 November 2018[24]

Players in bold are still active with Saudi Arabia.

Managerial history

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As of 29 July 2019[25][26]

Competitive record

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*Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts. Red border indicates that the tournament was hosted on home soil. Gold, silver, bronze backgrounds indicate 1st, 2nd and 3rd finishes respectively. Bold text indicates best finish in tournament.

FIFA World Cup

World Cup record										World Cup Qualification record
Hosts / year	Result	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA		GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1930	Not a FIFA member									No qualification
1934										Not a FIFA member
1938
1950
1954
1958	Did not enter									Did not enter
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978	Did not qualify									4	1	0	3	3	7
1982										10	4	1	5	9	16
1986										2	0	1	1	0	1
1990										9	4	3	2	11	9
1994	Round of 16	12th	4	2	0	2	5	6		11	6	5	0	28	7
1998	Group stage	28th	3	0	1	2	2	7		14	9	3	2	26	7
2002		32nd	3	0	0	3	0	12		14	11	2	1	47	8
2006		28th	3	0	1	2	2	7		12	10	2	0	24	2
2010	Did not qualify									15	8	4	3	25	15
2014										8	3	3	2	14	7
2018	Group stage	26th	3	1	0	2	2	7		18	12	3	3	45	14
2022	To be determined									3	1	2	0	5	2
2026
Total	Round of 16	5/23	16	3	2	11	11	39		120	69	29	22	237	95

AFC Asian Cup

Asian Cup record										Asian Cup Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA		GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1956	Not a AFC member									Not a AFC member
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976	Withdrew									6	3	1	2	12	5
1980										Withdrew
1984	Champions	1st	6	3	3	0	7	3		4	4	0	0	19	0
1988	Champions	1st	6	3	3	0	5	1		Automatic qualification as champions
1992	Runners-up	2nd	5	2	2	1	8	3		Automatic qualification as champions
1996	Champions	1st	6	3	2	1	11	6		4	4	0	0	10	0
2000	Runners-up	2nd	6	3	1	2	11	8		Automatic qualification as champions
2004	Group stage	13th	3	0	1	2	3	5		6	6	0	0	31	1
2007	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	1	1	12	6		6	5	0	1	21	4
2011	Group stage	15th	3	0	0	3	1	8		Automatic qualification as Runners-up
2015	Group stage	10th	3	1	0	2	5	5		6	5	1	0	9	3
2019	Round of 16	12th	4	2	0	2	6	3		8	6	2	0	28	4
2023	Qualified									8	6	2	0	22	4
Total	3 Titles	11/18	48	21	13	14	69	48		48	39	6	3	152	21

FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad
1992	Runners-up	2nd	2	1	0	1	4	3	Squad
1995	Group stage	5th	2	0	0	2	0	4	Squad
1997	Group stage	7th	3	1	0	2	1	8	Squad
1999	Fourth place	4th	5	1	1	3	8	16	Squad
2001	Did not qualify
2003
2005
2009
2013
2017
Total	Runners-up	4/11	12	3	1	8	13	31	-

Arabian Gulf Cup record

Pan Arab Games

Pan Arab Games record
Year	Result	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1953	Did not enter
1957	Group stage	3	1	1	1	4	3
1961	Round Robin	5	1	0	4	4	38
1965	Did not enter
1976	Runners-up	6	3	1	2	9	4
1985	Fourth place	4	3	0	1	6	3
1997	Did not enter
1999	First Round	2	0	1	1	2	3
2007	Third place	4	1	1	2	5	5
2011	First Round	2	0	1	1	0	2
Total	7/10	26	9	5	12	31	58

West Asian Football Federation Championship record

WAFF Championship record
Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2000	Did not participate
2002
2004
2007
2008
2010
2012	Group stage	3	1	1	1	1	1
2014	Group stage	2	0	1	1	1	4
2019	Group stage	3	0	1	2	1	5
Total	3/9	8	1	3	4	3	10

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All-time results

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The following table shows Saudi Arabia's all-time international record, correct as of 18 November 2020.

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA
Total	677	319	151	197	1033	728

• http://www.worldfootball.net/teams/saudi-arabien-team/21/
• https://www.fifa.com/live-scores/teams/country=ksa/Men/matches/index.html#yearnull

Honours

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International

• FIFA Confederations Cup:

Runner-up: 1992

Fourth Place: 1999

Continental

• AFC Asian Cup:

Winner: 1984, 1988, 1996

Runner-up: 1992, 2000, 2007

• Asian Games

Silver Medalists: 1986

Bronze Medalists: 1982

Regional

• Arabian Gulf Cup:

Winner: 1994, 2002, 2003

Runner-up: 1972, 1974, 1998, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2019

Third Place: 1970, 1979, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1996

• Arab Cup:

Winner: 1998, 2002

Runner-up: 1992

Third Place: 1985

• Pan Arab Games

Silver Medalists: 1976

Bronze Medalists: 2007

Other

• Afro-Asian Cup of Nations:

Runner-up: 1985, 1997

• 2005 Islamic Solidarity Games

Gold Medalists: 2005

Notes

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References

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Titles

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Preceded by 1980 Kuwait	Asian Champions 1984 (First title) 1988 (Second title)	Succeeded by 1992 Japan
Preceded by 1992 Japan	Asian Champions 1996 (Third title)	Succeeded by 2000 Japan