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The Al-Ahly winger was one of the most remarkable surprises in the list of “Greens”.
Turki Al-Awad, the former goalkeeper of “Al-Hilal” and the Saudi Arabian national team, revealed the reason why “Al-Ahly” winger Zakaria Hawsawi was excluded from the final list of “Al-Akhdar” for the final stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The coach of the Saudi Arabian national team, the Greek Giorgos Donis, published the final list for participation in the World Cup early Monday morning.
The list included 26 players, excluding Zakaria Hawsawi and his Al Ahli teammate. Wing Saleh Abu Al-ShamatThis caused great controversy.
Al-Awwad said in statements to “Al-Arabiya” TV channel. “Following our team from the beginning to today, Zakaria Hawsaoui was the lowest in terms of fitness.”
“This issue was clear and so Dennis ruled it out because compared to players who are present and disciplined, a coach would certainly not want to use players who are still preparing for a tournament the size of the World Cup.”
“Zakaria Hawsawi’s exclusion is not a surprise, but Saleh Abu Al-Shamat’s departure is a surprise because he played in the qualifiers, was a good player, had a good season, can be counted on as a substitute and has the personality to play under pressure.”
He concluded. “It’s true that I was surprised by Saleh Abu Al-Shamat’s dismissal, but we can’t judge Donis based on that final selection.”
The Saudi Arabian national team is in the eighth group of the final stage of the 2026 World Cup, alongside Spain, Uruguay and Cape Verde.
Al-Akhdar begin their tournament campaign against Uruguay on Tuesday, June 16, before taking on Spain on the 21st of the same month and finishing with Cape Verde on the 27th.
