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“The Greens” dream of going through the group stage for the first time in 32 years
The Saudi Arabian national team, as well as its fans, dream that the 30-year mark of the past decade will end and that the “Green” team will succeed in reaching the group stage for the second time in its history.
The Saudi Arabian national team is participating in the final stage of the World Cup for the 7th time, as it is in the eighth group with the national teams of Spain, Uruguay and Cape Verde, and the confrontation with the Latin national team starts at dawn next Tuesday.
Al-Nasr World Cup Championship
Al-Akhdar is competing in the 2026 World Cup just days after Al-Nasr won the Saudi League title for the eleventh time in its history and the first after a seven-year absence.
This is reminiscent of the history of the only World Cup in which the Saudi Arabian national team managed to get past the group stage, which was the 1994 World Cup, which was also held in the United States of America.
In this World Cup, the Saudi Arabian national team topped the sixth group with 6 points, two wins and one loss, passing the group stage for the first and last time, but they were eliminated from the tournament in the round of 16 after losing to Sweden with a score of 1-3.
The irony is that this was the only time a Saudi Arabian national team entered the World Cup after Al-Nasr Club were crowned the league title, which bodes well for them to repeat this feat to cross the group stage at the next World Cup.
Curse of the Crescent Moon
On the other hand, the Saudi Arabian national team entered the World Cup after Al Hilal had won the league title 4 times in 1998, 2002, 2018 and 2022 and failed to make it past the group stage in any of them.
The Saudi Arabian national team bowed out of the 1998 World Cup by finishing fourth in Group C with one point, which they earned from a draw with South Africa, compared to defeats by France and Denmark.
In 2002, the Greens lost all three of their group stage matches against Germany, Republic of Ireland and Cameroon, finishing bottom of Group Five without a point.
As for the 2018 World Cup, the Saudi Arabian national team was in third place in Group A with 3 points after losing to Russia and Uruguay, before achieving its first victory in 1994 at the expense of the Egyptian national team.
The conclusion came at the 2022 World Cup, where the Saudi Arabian team finished bottom of Group Three with three points, following a historic win over Argentina before defeats to Poland and Mexico.
Youth…a lonely look
As for the 2006 World Cup, it was the only tournament that Al-Akhdar participated in after Al-Shabaab won the Saudi League title, and the results were not much different.
In that game, Saudi Arabia crashed out of the tournament at the group stage, finishing last in Group Eight with a single point, which they earned before drawing with Tunisia before losing to Spain and Ukraine.
