Saudi Arabia
The Road to the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Russia’s opening game opponents clinched an automatic place at the 2018 World Cup with a 1-0 victory against Japan in their final Asian Group B match, putting them in second spot ahead of Australia on goal difference. Substitute Fahad Al Muwallad’s 63rd-minute goal proved the difference against Japan.
Stars
Saudi Arabia’s squad is mostly comprised of home-grown talent who play in its domestic leagues. The current squad includes just two players from foreign clubs, both of whom are young and more likely to make an impact at the 2022 World Cup than in 2018: Vitesse Arnhem’s 20-year-old midfielder Mukhtar Ali, who was on the books at Chelsea, and 18-year-old Faris Abdi, who plays for the University of Virginia men’s soccer team, the Virginia Cavaliers.
The team’s main goal threat comes from Al-Nassr’s 30-year-old Mohammad Al-Sahlawi, who scored 16 goals in qualifying. Only Poland’s Robert Lewandowski and the UAE’s Ahmed Khalil scored as many. Al-Sahlawi was especially productive in the second qualification round, when he netted eight times in two games against East Timor.
Fahad Al Muwallad is only 23 but he has already scored eight goals for the national side. He stands a diminutive 1.66 meters tall, but his technical skills more than make up for any lack of height. Al Muwallad is also Saudi Arabia’s most valuable player – the starting bid to buy him from club team Al-Ittihad is set at €2.6 million ($3 million).
Team captain Osama Hawsawi, 33, is probably the most experienced of the squad, and is one of the few Saudi footballers to have played in Europe. In 2012, the defender won the Belgian Super Cup with Anderlecht, although he sat out the game on the bench and made only one appearance in total. He later returned home after an injury-enforced lay-off. Spanish fans might remember him scoring against the team in a friendly in 2010.
Coach
Much of the credit for Saudi Arabia’s progress to Russia 2018 goes to Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk. However, he won’t be at the helm in Russia as he departed right after securing qualification. The Saudi press had been critical of van Marwijk for not living in the country and apparently ignoring the domestic football scene. The Dutchman has since been appointed the Australian head coach.
His position with the Saudis was initially filled by Edgardo Bauza, who previously had brief spells as the coach of Argentina and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Riyadh-based Al-Nassr. However, his brief spell ended when Spaniard Juan Antonio Pizzi was appointed head coach in November, having failed to guide Chile to the World Cup.
Past Achievements
Saudi Arabia qualified for every World Cup between 1994 and 2006, but missed out in 2010 and 2014. Their tournament debut in 1994 was widely deemed a success, with the team making it to the knock-out stages in the USA. They had lost to the Netherlands in their first group match but went on to beat Morocco and Belgium. The latter result was a major shock and is remembered for Saeed Al-Owairan’s impressive sprint across the field before scoring an unforgettable goal. Saudi Arabia finished second in their group and qualified for the last 16, where they lost 3-1 to a Swedish team that went on to finish third.
The Saudis failed to register a single win at the following three World Cups, although they drew with South Africa in 1998 and Tunisia in 2006. The team’s performance in 2002 was an unmitigated disaster – losing 8-0 to Germany, 1-0 to Cameroon, and 3-0 to Ireland.