Saudi Arabia at the FIFA World Cup

Russia vs Saudi Arabia match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia

This is a record of Saudi Arabia's results at the FIFA World Cup. The FIFA World Cup, sometimes called the Football World Cup or the Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.

The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase (officially called the World Cup Finals). The qualification phase, which currently take place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The current format of the Finals involves 48 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month. The World Cup final is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final.[1]

Saudi Arabia has qualified for a total of seven World Cup tournaments, having played in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022, 2026, and automatically qualified for 2034 as hosts. Their best performance was in 1994, where they reached the round of 16.

Overall record

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Not a FIFA member Not a FIFA member
Italy 1934
France 1938
Brazil 1950
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958 Did not enter Did not enter
Chile 1962
England 1966
Mexico 1970
West Germany 1974
Argentina 1978 Did not qualify 4 1 0 3 3 7
Spain 1982 10 4 1 5 9 16
Mexico 1986 2 0 1 1 0 1
Italy 1990 9 4 3 2 11 9
United States 1994 Round of 16 12th 4 2 0 2 5 6 11 6 5 0 28 7
France 1998 Group stage 28th 3 0 1 2 2 7 14 9 3 2 26 7
South Korea Japan 2002 Group stage 32nd 3 0 0 3 0 12 14 11 2 1 47 8
Germany 2006 Group stage 28th 3 0 1 2 2 7 12 10 2 0 24 2
South Africa 2010 Did not qualify 16 8 5 3 25 15
Brazil 2014 8 3 3 2 14 7
Russia 2018 Group stage 26th 3 1 0 2 2 7 18 12 3 3 45 14
Qatar 2022 Group stage 25th 3 1 0 2 3 5 18 13 4 1 34 10
Canada Mexico United States 2026 Group stage38th302115 18 8 6 4 22 13
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030 To be determined To be determined
Saudi Arabia 2034 Qualified as hosts Qualified as hosts
Total Round of 16 7/18 22 4 4 14 15 49 154 89 38 27 288 116

Historical performances

Saudi Arabia made their World Cup debut in 1994, reaching the round of 16 on their first appearance. They advanced from the group with wins over Morocco and Belgium, the latter settled by a Saeed Al-Owairan solo goal that is often ranked among the greatest in World Cup history and earned him the nickname "Maradona of the Arabs".[2][3] The run, which made them only the second Asian side to clear the group stage at a World Cup, ended with a 3–1 loss to Sweden.[4]

The team failed to win a match across the 1998, 2002 and 2006 tournaments, a run that included a 0–8 defeat by Germany in 2002. At the 2018 World Cup they lost the opening game 5–0 to hosts Russia but closed their campaign with a stoppage-time Salem Al-Dawsari goal to beat Egypt 2–1.[5][6]

At the 2022 World Cup Saudi Arabia beat eventual champions Argentina 2–1 in their opening match, with Al-Dawsari scoring the winner under coach Hervé Renard, in one of the competition's biggest upsets.[7][8] It was the country's first win in an opening World Cup match, though they again exited at the group stage.[9] Renard later guided the team to a third consecutive finals in 2026, and Saudi Arabia was confirmed as the sole-bidder host of the 2034 World Cup.[10][11][12][13]

List of matches

World Cup Round Opponent Score Result Venue Saudi Arabia scorers
1994Group stage Netherlands1–2LWashingtonAnwar
 Morocco2–1WEast RutherfordAl-Jaber, Anwar
 Belgium1–0WWashingtonAl-Owairan
Round of 16 Sweden1–3LDallasAl-Ghesheyan
1998Group stage Denmark0–1LLens—
 France0–4LSaint-Denis—
 South Africa2–2DBordeauxAl-Jaber, Al-Thunayan
2002Group stage Germany0–8LSapporo—
 Cameroon0–1LSaitama—
 Republic of Ireland0–3LYokohama—
2006Group stage Tunisia2–2DMunichAl-Qahtani, Al-Jaber
 Ukraine0–4LHamburg—
 Spain0–1LKaiserslautern—
2018Group stage Russia0–5LMoscow—
 Uruguay0–1LRostov-on-Don—
 Egypt2–1WVolgogradAl-Faraj, S. Al-Dawsari
2022Group stage Argentina2–1WLusailAl-Shehri, S. Al-Dawsari
 Poland0–2LAl Rayyan—
 Mexico1–2LLusailS. Al-Dawsari
2026Group stage Uruguay1–1DMiami GardensAl-Amri
 Spain0–4LAtlanta—
 Cape Verde0–0DHouston—

1994 FIFA World Cup

Group Stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Netherlands 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 6[a] Advance to knockout stage
2  Saudi Arabia 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 6[a]
3  Belgium 3 2 0 1 2 1 +1 6
4  Morocco 3 0 0 3 2 5 −3 0
Source: FIFA
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Head-to-head result: Netherlands 2–1 Saudi Arabia.
Netherlands 2–1 Saudi Arabia
 [Report 1]
Attendance: 50,535
Saudi Arabia 2–1 Morocco
 [Report 2]
Attendance: 76,322
Referee: Philip Don (England)
Belgium 0–1 Saudi Arabia
[Report 3]
Attendance: 52,959

Knockout stage

Round of 16
Saudi Arabia 1–3 Sweden
 [Report 4]
Attendance: 60,277

1998 FIFA World Cup

Group Stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  France (H) 3 3 0 0 9 1 +8 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Denmark 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
3  South Africa 3 0 2 1 3 6 −3 2
4  Saudi Arabia 3 0 1 2 2 7 −5 1
Source: FIFA
(H) Hosts
Saudi Arabia 0–1 Denmark
[Report 5]
Attendance: 38,100
France 4–0 Saudi Arabia
 [Report 6]
Attendance: 80,000
South Africa 2–2 Saudi Arabia
 [Report 7]
Attendance: 31,800

2002 FIFA World Cup

semi final

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Germany 3 2 1 0 11 1 +10 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Republic of Ireland 3 1 2 0 5 2 +3 5
3  Cameroon 3 1 1 1 2 3 −1 4
4  Saudi Arabia 3 0 0 3 0 12 −12 0
Source: FIFA

2002 FIFA World Cup round of 16 E

2002 FIFA World Cup quarter final E

2002 FIFA World Cup semi final E

2006 FIFA World Cup

Group Stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Spain 3 3 0 0 8 1 +7 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Ukraine 3 2 0 1 5 4 +1 6
3  Tunisia 3 0 1 2 3 6 −3 1
4  Saudi Arabia 3 0 1 2 2 7 −5 1
Source: FIFA
Tunisia 2–2 Saudi Arabia
 [Report 8]
Attendance: 66,000
Saudi Arabia 0–4 Ukraine
[Report 9]
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Graham Poll (England)
Saudi Arabia 0–1 Spain
[Report 10]
Attendance: 46,000
Referee: Coffi Codjia (Benin)

2018 FIFA World Cup

Group Stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Uruguay 3 3 0 0 5 0 +5 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Russia (H) 3 2 0 1 8 4 +4 6
3  Saudi Arabia 3 1 0 2 2 7 −5 3
4  Egypt 3 0 0 3 2 6 −4 0
Source: FIFA
(H) Hosts
Russia 5–0 Saudi Arabia
 [Report 11]
Attendance: 78,011
Uruguay 1–0 Saudi Arabia
 [Report 12]
Attendance: 42,678
Saudi Arabia 2–1 Egypt
 [Report 13]
Attendance: 36,823

2022 FIFA World Cup

Group Stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Argentina 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3 6 Advance to knockout stage
2  Poland 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
3  Mexico 3 1 1 1 2 3 −1 4
4  Saudi Arabia 3 1 0 2 3 5 −2 3
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Argentina 1–2 Saudi Arabia
 [Report 14]
Attendance: 88,012
Poland 2–0 Saudi Arabia
 [Report 15]
Attendance: 44,259
Saudi Arabia 1–2 Mexico
 [Report 16]
Attendance: 84,985

2026 FIFA World Cup

Group Stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Spain 3 2 1 0 5 0 +5 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Cape Verde 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 3
3  Uruguay 3 0 2 1 3 4 −1 2[a]
4  Saudi Arabia 3 0 2 1 1 5 −4 2[a]
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Tied on head-to-head result (Saudi Arabia 1–1 Uruguay). Overall goal difference was used as the tiebreaker.
Saudi Arabia 1–1 Uruguay
 [Report 17]
Attendance: 62,764
Spain 4–0 Saudi Arabia
 [Report 18]
Attendance: 68,239
Cape Verde 0–0 Saudi Arabia
[Report 19]
Attendance: 68,278

Head-to-head record

Player records

Most appearances

Rank Player Matches World Cups
1Mohamed Al-Deayea101994, 1998 and 2002
2 Sami Al-Jaber91994, 1998, 2002 and 2006
Abdullah Zubromawi91994, 1998 and 2002
Hussein Abdulghani91998, 2002 and 2006
Salem Al-Dawsari92018, 2022 and 2026
6 Mohammed Al-Owais72018, 2022 and 2026
Mohamed Kanno72018, 2022 and 2026
8 Mohammed Al-Khilaiwi61994 and 1998
Khaled Al-Muwallid61994 and 1998
Saeed Al-Owairan61994 and 1998
Fuad Anwar61994 and 1998
Hamzah Saleh61994 and 1998
Ahmed Al-Dokhi61998, 2002 and 2006
Ibrahim Suwayed61998 and 2002
Nawaf Al-Temyat61998, 2002 and 2006
Redha Tukar62002 and 2006
Saud Abdulhamid62022 and 2026
Abdulelah Al-Amri62022 and 2026
Firas Al-Buraikan62022 and 2026

Goalscorers

Sami Al-Jaber scored a joint-record three goals for Saudi Arabia at the FIFA World Cup; he also managed to score in World Cups twelve years apart (1994 and 2006).

Player Goals 1994 1998 2006 2018 2022 2026
Sami Al-Jaber 3 111
Salem Al-Dawsari 3 12
Fuad Anwar Amin 2 2
Saeed Al-Owairan 1 1
Fahad Al-Ghesheyan 1 1
Yousuf Al-Thunayan 1 1
Yasser Al-Qahtani 1 1
Salman Al-Faraj 1 1
Saleh Al-Shehri 1 1
Abdulelah Al-Amri 1 1
Total 15 522231

Squads

See also

References

  1. ↑ 2006 FIFA World Cup TV Coverage (PDF), FIFA.com. Retrieved on June 6, 2007.
  2. ↑ "Saeed Al-Owairan on his goal and Saudi Arabia's 1994 exploits". FIFA. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  3. ↑ "Famous FIFA World Cup Goals: Saeed Al-Owairan's Flying Sprint". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  4. ↑ "The day Saudi's Al-Owairan scored one of the World Cup's greatest ever goals". Arab News. 2019. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  5. ↑ "Russia 5–0 Saudi Arabia". ESPN. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  6. ↑ "Saudi Arabia 2–1 Egypt". ESPN. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  7. ↑ "World Cup 2022: Argentina 1–2 Saudi Arabia". Sky Sports. 22 November 2022. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  8. ↑ "How Hervé Renard's Saudi Arabia outfoxed Argentina". Esquire Middle East. 2022. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  9. ↑ "Herve Renard and the Saudi trio eyeing a third World Cup". FIFA. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  10. ↑ "Hervé Renard names 34-man squad for World Cup qualifiers against Bahrain and Australia". Saudi Gazette. 2025. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  11. ↑ "Saudi Arabia qualify". FIFA. Retrieved 2026-07-01.
  12. ↑ "Saudi Arabia 2026 FIFA World Cup Campaign Analysis". 2026 World Cup. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  13. ↑ "Saudi Arabia to host 2034 Men's World Cup". CBC Sports. 11 December 2024. Retrieved 2026-07-01.

Reports

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