Saudi Arabia World Cup 2018
Saudi Arabia head to Russia, with several changes of in management overshadowing the achievement of qualifying for the first World Cup finals since 2006. Here is our analysis.
History at the World Cup
Saudi Arabia made their first ever appearance at a World Cup finals tournament in USA 1994, where they surprised everyone by reaching the last 16. Victories over both Morocco and Belgium saw them finish runners-up behind Netherlands in that tournament, but they were beaten 3-1 by Sweden in the knock-out stages. They then qualified for the next three finals, in 1998, 2002, and 2006, but went out at the group stage without winning a game on each occasion. Failure to qualify for the past two tournaments means this will be their fifth appearance at a World Cup finals.
- World Cup Finals Appearances – 4
- Previous Best Performance – Last 16
How they qualified
Saudi Arabia came through the Asian Football Confederation qualifying but found it tough at times. In the second round, the round in which they entered, they topped a relatively easy group containing United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Malaysia, and Timor-Leste. They won six and drew two of their matches, whilst one match against Malaysia was given as a 3-0 victory despite the match being abandoned with the score at 2-1.
The next stage of qualifying saw them matched in a group with Japan, Australia, UAE, Iraq, and Thailand. Six wins, one draw, and three defeats was enough to see them finish second in the group, above Australia on goal difference, to book their place in Russia. Mohammad Al-Sahlawi finished top scorer of AFC qualifying, with sixteen goals.
Coach/Manager
Argentinian born, former Spanish international, Juan Antonio Pizzi took over as head coach of Saudi Arabia in November 2017, and is yet to take charge of a match.
His appointment came after Bert van Marwijk, the coach who led them through qualification, failed to agree a new contract and his replacement, Edgardo Bauza, was sacked after just two months.
During World Cup qualifying, Pizzi was manager of the Chile national team and he resigned after failing to lead them to the finals. But, despite that failure, he has been entrusted with the responsibility of leading Saudi Arabia in Russia.
He is an experienced manager, with this being his tenth different managerial position, and he did have some success with Chile even if they did miss out on qualification for this World Cup.
They reached the final of the 2017 Confederations Cup, and won the Copa America Centenario in 2016, under Pizzi’s management.
Star Players
Mohammad Al-Sahlawi is the current star of the Saudi team, with twenty-eight goals scored in just thirty-three appearances, to put him just four goals off fifth place in the nation’s all-time leading goal scorer list.
The duo of Osama Hawsawi and Taisir Al-Jassim have over 250 caps between them and provide valuable experience to the squad.
Most of the squad play in their home country and are unknown to the rest of the world, with Mukhtar Ali of Vitesse being the only recently capped player who plays in Europe.
Saudi Arabia World Cup 2018: Assessing Their Chances & Odds
The bookmakers have Saudi Arabia priced as 1000/1 outsiders, the same price as debutants Panama, and we agree that they have absolutely no chance of winning the tournament. In fact, we think they could be there to just make up the numbers.
Saudi Arabia will play Russia, a clash between the two lowest ranked nations, in the opening match of the tournament and we believe home advantage will spur the hosts on to victory.
After that, Saudi Arabia face tougher matches against Uruguay and Egypt, and we think they will lose both of those convincingly.
They are the lowest ranked nation, aside from the hosts, and their lack of quality will be obvious.
Our Saudi Arabia World Cup Prediction
This sounds a bit harsh, but we truly believe Saudi Arabia are just making up the numbers in Russia. It is a fantastic achievement to even qualify for the World Cup finals, and we aren’t taking that away from them, but they are out of their depth in terms of quality despite being drawn in a relatively poor group. An early exit is our prediction for Saudi Arabia, with the chances of finishing without a point being extremely high.