Eyes on Mancini’s Saudi team as 2026 World Cup qualifiers kick off against Pakistan

On Thursday, it will be six days short of one year since Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina 2-1 in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the World Cup.

It also marks the start of qualification campaign for the 2026 tournament at home against Pakistan, with a tricky trip to Jordan to follow on Nov. 21.

Tomorrow’s opposition may not be as glamorous as the South Americans, who went all the way to lift the trophy, but nothing short of three points will be acceptable.

The standard of opponent for this first-time meeting is not the only thing that has changed from year ago, with Herve Renard having left in March to take over the France women’s team. The Frenchman led Saudi Arabia through qualification for Qatar 2022 in impressive fashion, though it started with a bit of a wobble and a 2-2 draw against Yemen in September 2019.

Now, four years and two months later, it is the turn of another European coach.

Roberto Mancini has been in place since August and needs a win, as results in the friendlies since then have not been encouraging. The former Manchester City boss, who left his job in charge of European champions Italy to head to Riyadh, has lost three and drawn one of his four games so far, though six of the seven before he arrived had also been defeats.

Under the Italian, the standard of friendly opposition has been relatively high: The defeats came against Costa Rica, South Korea and Mali, with the stalemate against Nigeria. However, it goes without saying that nothing less than a win will do on Thursday in Al-Ahsa.

Anything else would be as big a surprise as that victory over Argentina. This is, on paper at least, the easiest game the Green Falcons will have on the road to North America — a home tie against a