Saudi Arabia national football team
Men's association football team / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Saudi Arabia national football team (Arabic: المنتخب السُّعُودِيّ لِكُرَّةُ الْقَدَم) represents Saudi Arabia in men's international football. They are known as Al-Suqour Al-Khodhur (The Green Falcons), a reference to their traditional colours of green and white, and represent both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Nickname(s) | الأخضر (al-'Akhḍar, "The Green") الصقور الخضر (as-Suqūr al-Khoḍur, "Green Falcons") الصقور العربية (as-Suqūr Al-‘Arabiyyah, "Arabian Falcons") | ||
---|---|---|---|
Association | Saudi Arabian Football Federation | ||
Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||
Sub-confederation | WAFF (West Asia) | ||
Head coach | Roberto Mancini | ||
Captain | Salman Al-Faraj | ||
Most caps | Mohamed Al-Deayea (173)[1] | ||
Top scorer | Majed Abdullah (72)[2] | ||
Home stadium | Various | ||
FIFA code | KSA | ||
| |||
FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 53 (4 April 2024)[3] | ||
Highest | 21 (July 2004) | ||
Lowest | 126 (December 2012) | ||
First international | |||
Lebanon 1–1 Saudi Arabia (Beirut, Lebanon; 18 January 1957) | |||
Biggest win | |||
East Timor 0–10 Saudi Arabia (Dili, Timor-Leste; 17 November 2015) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
Egypt 13–0 Saudi Arabia (Casablanca, Morocco; 3 September 1961) | |||
World Cup | |||
Appearances | 6 (first in 1994) | ||
Best result | Round of 16 (1994) | ||
Asian Cup | |||
Appearances | 12 (first in 1984) | ||
Best result | Champions (1984, 1988, 1996) | ||
Arab Cup | |||
Appearances | 7 (first in 1985) | ||
Best result | Champions (1998, 2002) | ||
Arabian Gulf Cup | |||
Appearances | 24 (first in 1970) | ||
Best result | Champions (1994, 2002, 2003–04) | ||
WAFF Championship | |||
Appearances | 3 (first in 2012) | ||
Best result | Group stage (2012, 2014, 2019) | ||
FIFA Confederations Cup | |||
Appearances | 4 (first in 1992) | ||
Best result | Runners-up (1992) | ||
Medal record | |||
Website | saff.sa |
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 seven 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.
During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Saudi Arabia caused a large upset when they beat eventual champions Argentina 2–1, the first time Argentina lost to an Asian representative in a FIFA World Cup. However, Saudi Arabia then lost the following matches against Poland and Mexico, and were knocked out 4th in the group stage of the World Cup.
In 2027, Saudi Arabia will host the AFC Asian Cup. It will be the first time that the nation has ever hosted an Asian Cup.[4] They will also host the 2034 FIFA World Cup.