The Saudi Arabia national football team (Arabic: المنتخب العربي السعودي لكرة القدم) represent Saudi Arabia in men's international football. They are known as Al-Suqour Al-Khodhur (The Green Falcons) in reference to their traditional colours of green and white and represent both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Considered one of Asia's most successful national teams, Saudi Arabia have won the AFC Asian Cup three times (1984, 1988 and 1996), reached a joint record six Asian Cup finals and have qualified for the FIFA World Cup on six occasions since debuting at the 1994 tournament. Saudi Arabia are the first Asian team to reach the final of a senior FIFA competition at the 1992 King Fahd Cup, which would eventually become the FIFA Confederations Cup. Only Australia and Japan managed to repeat this feat in 1997 and 2001 respectively, though Australia achieved it when they were a member of the OFC.
At the 1994 World Cup, under the leadership of Jorge Solari, Saudi Arabia beat both Belgium and Morocco in the group stage before falling to Sweden in the Round of 16. Thus, they became the second Arab team in history to reach the round of 16 of a World Cup after Morocco at the 1986 FIFA World Cup and one of the few Asian national football teams (others being Australia, Japan, South Korea and North Korea) to accomplish such a feat to date.
The idea of a Saudi national team first came about in 1951, when a Saudi XI team consisting of players from Al-Wehda and Al-Ahli took part in a friendly game against the Egyptian Ministry of Health on 27 June at the Al-Saban Stadium in Jeddah. The following day, the Egyptians took on a Saudi team made up of players from Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal in Al-Bahri in the same city. On 2 August, His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal organized a third friendly with the Egyptian team against Saudi Arabia with players from Al-Wehda, and Al-Ahli. By then, the idea of a national select team to represent the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was already in full flow, and in 1953 the first-ever Saudi team traveled to play friendly matches abroad. The same year, a Saudi team traveled to Damascus to play friendly matches as part of then-Crown Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz’s visit to the country in April.[5]
In 1957, the Saudi national team took part in their first international tournament at the 2nd Pan-Arab Games in Beirut, where King Saud was invited to attend the opening ceremony and the inauguration of the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium with Lebanese President Camille Chamoun on 18 October. Abdulmajeed Kayal scored for the Saudis while Levon Altonian netted for the home side.[6]
Though their football federation was established in 1956, the Saudi Arabia national team did not participate in a tournament until they qualified for the AFC Asian Cup in 1984. Since then, they reached the next four consecutive Asian Cup finals, winning two of them (1988 and 1996). They have qualified for every Asian Cup since, reaching the final in 2007.
Saudi Arabia qualified for their first FIFA World Cup in 1994 under the leadership of Argentine manager Jorge Solari and talents like Saeed Al-Owairan and Sami Al-Jaber, reinforced by national veteran Majed Abdullah as team captain. Wins against Belgium and Morocco in the group stage led to a match-up against Sweden in the round of 16, a 3–1 loss. Saudi Arabia qualified for the next three World Cups, but failed to win a match in any of them; the team placed last in 2002 without scoring a goal, while conceding 12, including eight against Germany.
Saudi Arabia secured qualification for the 2018 World Cup, their first in 12 years,[7] ahead of Australia. Hosts Russia annihilated the Arabs in the opening match 5–0,[8] making this the second largest victory of any host nation at the FIFA World Cup.[9] Saudi Arabia then lost 1–0 to a Luis Suarez-led Uruguay, the eventual group winners.[10] Although they were already eliminated,[11] they managed to salvage some pride by winning their final group stage match against Red Sea neighbours Egypt.[12]
After the 2018 World Cup, Saudi Arabia participated in the 2019 Asian Cup, held in the United Arab Emirates; the team finished second in the group stage, after falling to Qatar in the final game,[13] leading to a showdown against Japan in the round of 16. The Saudis dominated the whole game, but ultimately lost 1–0 due to poor finishing.[14]
On 15 October 2019, Saudi Arabia played its first-ever game with Palestine in the West Bank; the game marked a change in policy for Saudi Arabia, which has previously played matches against the Palestinian team in third-party countries. The visit was condemned by some Palestinian activists, who considered the game as a start of normalizing the relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, but it was viewed by the Palestinian National Authority as a support for their sovereignty over the West Bank.[15] The game ended in a scoreless draw.[16]
Saudi Arabia qualified for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the first to be held in the Middle East, by topping their qualifying group and were drawn against Argentina, Poland and Mexico.[17] In the opening game of their group, they defeated a much fancied Argentina side 2–1, ending an Argentine unbeaten streak of 36 games dating back to 2019. The Saudi King declared a Holiday after the win over Argentina.[18]
Due to historical reasons, matches against Iran have been frequently followed and seen by Saudis as the most important rival. This stems from the strong hatred between Saudi Arabia and Iran, in particular recent years due to religious sectarianism and historical enmities. Saudi Arabia is leading the series, by one game, with 6 wins, 3 draws, and 5 losses. It's one of 10 most heated rivalries with political influence.[20][21]
Saudi Arabia's other heated rival is Iraq. However, the rivalry only began in the 1970s. Due to the Gulf War, in which Iraq invaded Saudi Arabia's ally Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq eventually became bitter rivals fighting to salvage Arab pride.[22] The two countries since then have an up-and-down in relations, often ranged from lack of cooperation and political confrontation. Iraq almost pulled out of the 21st Arabian Gulf Cup after the country was disallowed to host the competition in a move believed to be motivated by Saudi Arabia.[23]
Historically, Saudi Arabia played most of their home matches in King Fahd International Stadium, located in the capital Riyadh. The stadium was also where some of Saudi Arabia's most important fixtures were when the country hosted the first three King Fahd Cups (predecessor of the Confederations Cup). The stadium was also home to some of Saudi Arabia's big games in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
*Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts. Red border indicates that the tournament was hosted on home soil. Gold, silver, bronze backgrounds indicate 1st, 2nd and 3rd finishes respectively. Bold text indicates best finish in tournament.
.png){kind=logo}
2 (6 October 2022)[3]
Lebanon 1–1 Saudi Arabia 
Timor-Leste 0–10 Saudi Arabia 
United Arab Republic 13–0 Saudi Arabia 
Admiral
Puma
Ágata
Le Coq Sportif
Nike
Jordan 
Oman 
31'
Australia 
Colombia 
Venezuela 
Ecuador 
North Macedonia 
Albania 
Honduras 
Iceland 
Croatia 
Mexico 
Iraq 
Hervé Renard
Abdulrahman Fawzi (1957–1961)
Ali Chaouach (1967–1969)
George Skinner (1970)
Mohammed Sheita (1970–1972)
Ferenc Puskás (1975)
Rubens Minelli (1980)
Omar Borrás (1988)
Metin Türel (1990)
Veloso (1992)
Leo Beenhakker (1993–1994)
Nelo Vingada (1996–1997)
Milan Máčala (1999–2000)
Slobodan Santrač (2001)
Juan Ramón López Caro (2013–2014)
Cosmin Olăroiu (2014–2015)
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1990
2010
2018
2022
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1980
1984
1992
1996
2007
1976
2007
2004
