Saudi Arabia World Cup Preview

Manager: Hervé Renard

Key Player: Salem Al-Dawsari

Best Finish: Round of 16 (1994)

World Cup Group: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

One of the most successful teams in Asia, having won the AFC Asian cup three times, Saudi Arabia will be looking to make this an important World Cup for the Gulf region.

They will be looking to build on their Group Stage exit at the 2018 World Cup, where their only points came from of 2-1 victory over Egypt.

They will be hopeful of scoring more goals this time around too, with the duo of Salem Al-Dawsari and Saleh Al-Shehri, notching 14 goals and 3 assists between them in the run to qualifying for this winter’s World Cup, so keep an eye on them.

The manager favoured a 4-2-3-1 system in qualifying for the tournament, which worked well for them, losing only one game against Japan in the 18 games they played. However, after using a 4-3-3 against the USA and coming out with a 0-0 draw, Renard may be inclined to change things around.

Overall though, Suquor Al-Ahkdhar (The Green Falcons) will be extremely lucky to make it out of such a strong group.