{"id":2439,"date":"2026-01-02T18:58:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T18:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=2439"},"modified":"2026-01-02T18:58:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T18:58:06","slug":"saudi-arabia-world-cup-2026-preview-best-players-roster-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=2439","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia World Cup 2026 Preview: Best Players, Roster, History"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            POPULAR SEARCHES\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            BROWSE BY\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd>Arguably the biggest upset in World Cup history came courtesy of Saudi Arabia in 2022, taking down eventual champions Argentina in the group stage. The team has made six of the last eight editions of the tournament, even making it to the Round of 16 in 1994. Saudi Arabia has also won three AFC Asian Cups, last doing so in 1996.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd><strong>How they Qualified:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd>Saudi Arabia qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup by advancing through the fourth round of AFC qualifying after missing automatic qualification in the third round. The team finished ahead of Iraq and Indonesial, earning a spot in the tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd><strong>World Cup Group Stage Schedule:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd><strong>Previous World Cup appearances:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd><strong>What is Saudi Arabia&#8217;s Best Finish in the World Cup?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd><strong>Who&#8217;ll be Saudi Arabia&#8217;s Key Players at the World Cup?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd>Salem Al-Dawsari enters the tournament as Saudi Arabia\u2019s most experienced attacking presence, highlighted by more than a decade with Al-Hilal, multiple AFC Champions League titles and a landmark goal against Argentina at the 2022 World Cup. Musab Al-Juwayr adds a younger midfield option with domestic league experience and regular involvement in Saudi youth national teams. Saud Abdulhamid contributes stability at fullback following consistent play in the Saudi Pro League and appearances in recent regional competitions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd><strong>Who is Saudi Arabia&#8217;s Manager for the World Cup?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd>Herv\u00e9 Renard guided Saudi Arabia through one of the most notable moments in the program\u2019s recent history, overseeing the 2022 World Cup cycle and the famous group-stage win over Argentina. The French manager brought extensive international experience to the role, including AFCON titles with Zambia and Ivory Coast. Renard remained in charge through early stages of the 2026 qualifying period before departing for the France women\u2019s national team, and then returning to the Saudi national team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd><strong>Saudi Arabia&#8217;s All-Time Leading Scorer:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd><strong>Saudi Arabia&#8217;s All-Time Caps Leader:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd><strong>Saudi Arabia&#8217;s Team Nickname:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd><strong>About the country:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-746446fd><i>Want great stories delivered right to your inbox?\u00a0<\/i><i><u>Create or log in to your FOX Sports account<\/u><\/i><i> and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY Arguably the biggest upset in World Cup history came courtesy of Saudi Arabia in 2022, taking down eventual champions Argentina in the group stage. The team has made six of the last eight editions of the tournament, even making it to the Round of 16 in 1994. Saudi Arabia has also [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}