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The Saudi Arabian national team dreams of a new achievement at the 2026 World Cup
Defeating the world champion is a beautiful dream that every team has, and while dreams don’t always come true, the Saudi Arabian national team got lucky and their dream came true, but it quickly turned into a nightmare from which they have barely woken up.
A historic victory
Saudi Arabia scored a historic victory at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar when they opened their campaign in the tournament by beating Argentina, the then Copa America champions, 2-1 after going 1-0 down.
The victory was historic as it ended Argentina’s then 36-match unbeaten streak and became the first Arab and Asian team to beat the Tango Dancers in World Cup history.
The Saudi Arabian national team also later became the first team in history to defeat the future world champion in the opening round of the same tournament.
In addition, the Greens became the first team to beat Argentina after the latter’s lead in World Cup history since Germany did so in 1958.
These exceptional numbers made the victory over Argentina a historical epic, which should have been followed by other achievements comparable to the victory over the future world champions, but it was not to be.
Illusory victory
After the match, the then coach of the Saudi Arabian national team, French Hervé Renard, spoke about the luck of “Al-Akhdar” in the match, stressing that if it played many times, it would not have the same result.
Renard’s comments came after what everyone expected was a heavy loss for Saudi Arabia in the match, especially after Argentina scored the lead from the penalty spot in the tenth minute.
After the first goal, “Tango Dancers” scored 3 more goals in the first half only, but all of them were not considered offside, which saved “Al Akhdar” from a heavy defeat in the first half only.
World Cup Champion…and bye!
Contrary to expectations, things did not go well for the Saudi Arabian team after this historic victory, although they almost needed a point against Poland or Mexico to advance to the next round.
The Greens lost both matches, exiting the World Cup at the group stage, bottom of the group with 3 points, the second time in their history they have failed to qualify for the next round and the first since their sole qualification in 1994.
Saudi Arabia were stripped of their Arab World Cup title in Qatar and replaced by Morocco, the first Arab and African team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup before finishing fourth.
Argentina, on the other hand, won the title, topping the group with six points after two wins over Mexico and Poland, before going on to win the World Cup for the third time in their history and the first after a 36-year absence.
The World Cup… is the first of sorrows, but not the last
Getting out of the World Cup in the group stage, in the last part of the group, after a historic victory over the future world champions, is certainly painful, but what is more painful is what the Saudi Arabian team suffered after that moment.
A few months after the tournament, Renard announced her departure from the Saudi Arabian national team to coach France’s women’s team, a surprise move that put the Saudi Arabian Football Association in a difficult position.
Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad couldn’t find anyone better than Italy’s European champion Roberto Mancini to carry the green flag as Renard’s replacement, but he disappointed, produced the worst levels and got into trouble with the stars.
The natural result was Mancini’s departure, especially after Saudi Arabia’s poor performance in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, but what was not expected was Renard’s return after a failed attempt in his home country.
The case with the French coach was not particularly different, because the results went at the same pace. True, he qualified Saudi Arabia for the second consecutive World Cup finals, but it was via the Asian play-offs.
After a series of criticisms, Renard left Saudi Arabia again, but this time against his will, as it happened two months before the start of the Greens World Cup, and was replaced by Giorgos Donis of Greece.
The era of championships is over
This mess had the only natural result of being knocked out of every competition in the worst possible way, and unable to regain the titles that had been missing from the coffers for nearly 23 years.
Shortly after the conclusion of the 2022 World Cup, the Saudi national team crashed out of the 2023 Gulf Cup in the group stage with one win over Yemen before defeats to Iraq and Oman respectively.
Al-Akhdar then made a bye to the Asian Nations Cup in the round of 16, losing to South Korea on penalties, going through a middle group that included Oman, Kyrgyzstan and Thailand.
Saudi Arabia’s national team also bowed out of the 2024 Arab Gulf Cup in the semi-finals after losing 1-2 to Oman to advance from a group that included Bahrain, Yemen and Iraq.
Al-Akhdar’s poor results in the last world continued as they were knocked out of the Gold Cup in the quarter-finals after a 2-0 loss to Mexico, before being knocked out of the Arab Cup by one goal at the hands of Jordan in the semi-finals.
World Cup 2026.. a new opportunity for Argentina’s dreams
Saudi Arabia now have a new chance to achieve what they failed to do after Argentina’s historic victory, especially as they face another continental champion, Spain, who many expect to be the next World Cup champions.
Saudi Arabia enter the tournament with new dreams and ambitions under a new technical director who is hungry to make history with the first national team he has managed in his coaching career, Greece’s Giorgos Donis.
The Greens’ golden opportunity is not to repeat Argentina’s miracle against Spain, but to achieve what they failed to do after this historic victory, which is a place in the next round, something they have failed to achieve for 32 years.
With the number of teams increasing from 32 to 48, the first and second from each group advance directly to the Round of 32, in addition to the top 8 third-placed teams from each of the 12 groups.
These new rules are a historic opportunity not only to get past the group stage, but to face a less difficult opponent in the round of 32 if we finish second and then have a better chance of making it to the round of 16.
Now the Saudi Arabian team must break free from the shackles of Argentina’s historic victory and move forward to write a new history with a bigger and more impressive achievement.
