© Reuters
On November 20th, the 22nd World Football Championship begins. The sports event, which will last almost until Christmas, will attract fans from various national teams around the world to support their teams.
The most visited country's football portal "Eurofootball.com" will provide reviews of the World Cup national teams, aiming to get to know each team participating in the championship.
This time we take a look at the Saudi Arabian national team playing in Group C.
Team history and achievements
Saudi Arabia has participated in the World Cup 6 times, and its most successful performance was in the 1994 championship when they reached the round of 16.
Saudi Arabia participated in the last World Cup held in 2018. In that tournament, the representatives of the Asian continent were eliminated in the group stage, finishing third ahead of the Egyptian team.
Saudi Arabia has participated in the Asian Cup ten times and won the champions title three times (in 1984, 1988, 1996).
The representatives of the Asian continent have also triumphed in the Arab Cup twice (in 1998 and 2002).
Predicted team composition
Goalkeepers: Mohammed Al-Owais (Al-Hilal), Fawaz Al-Qarni (Al-Shabab), Mohammed Al Rubaie (Al-Ahli), Nawaf Al-Aqidi (Al-Nassr).
Defenders: Hassan Tambakti (Al-Shabab), Abdullah Madu (Al-Nassr), Ahmed Bamsaud (Al-Ittihad), Saud Abdulhamid (Al-Hilal), Yasser Al-Shahrani (Al-Hilal), Abdulelah Al-Amri (Al-Nassr), Ali Al-Bulaihi (Al-Hilal), Sultan Al-Ghanam (Al-Nassr).
Midfielders: Salman Al-Faraj (Al-Hilal), Hattan Bahebri (Al-Shabab), Salem Al-Dawsari (Al-Hilal), Nawaf Al-Abed (Al-Shabab), Ali Al-Hassan (Al-Nassr), Sami Al-Najei (Al-Nassr), Nasser Al-Dawsari (Al-Hilal), Awad Al-Nashri (Al-Ittihad), Riyad Shahrili (Abha), Mohamed Kanno (Al-Hilal), Fahad Al-Muwallad (Al-Shabab).
Forwards: Firas Al-Buraikan (Al-Fateh), Haroun Camara (Al-Ittihad), Haitham Asiri (Al-Ahli).
National team coach
The coach of the Saudi Arabian national team is the Frenchman Herve Renard.
The 54-year-old former footballer has been working as a coach since 1999. Saudi Arabia is the fifth national team coached by Herve Renard.
Prior to this, the Frenchman worked with the national teams of Zambia, Angola, Ivory Coast, and Morocco.
Since 2019, the coach working in the Asian continent has led 28 matches. Within them, he achieved 15 victories, 9 draws, and suffered 4 defeats.
Group stage opponents
Saudi Arabia will play in Group C along with Argentina, Mexico, and Poland.
There have been three matches against Mexico, and all of them were won by the representatives of the North American continent.
Saudi Arabia met Poland only once in 2006. In that friendly match, the Poles triumphed (2:1).
There have been two matches against Argentina, with the last one (in 2012) ending in a draw.
Conclusion
It is difficult to expect Saudi Arabia to advance to the knockout stages. The representatives of the Asian continent are clear underdogs in the group and it will be very difficult for them to earn points in the group.
