Group stage brings joy and despair for Arab teams at World Cup

LONDON: Whatever happens at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the coming weeks, Arab football fans will have mixed memories of the group stage. Followers of Egypt, Algeria and Morocco will be happy at going through but for the other five on their way home, there will be regret, disappointment and, in some cases, surprise at what happened.

That will especially be the case for those in the Asian Football Confederation as none of the four made it through. That includes back-to-back continental champions Qatar, who endured perhaps the worst result, a 6-0 thrashing against Canada, a team that had never previously won a World Cup game. Despite hiring former Spain and Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui in 2025, the Maroons’ collection of just a point in what was far from the toughest group is a massive underachievement.

Saudi Arabia will be kicking themselves at missing out. Changing coach from Herve Renard to Georgios Donis in April was a gamble that did not pay off. It started well with a 1-1 draw over Uruguay, meaning the subsequent 4-0 defeat at the hands of Spain was painful but not that consequential. The plan was still in place: Beat Cape Verde to go through in second place. Yet it ended 0-0 in a performance that lacked intensity, urgency and imagination against a team playing in a first World Cup.

Jordan will be happier. Three losses is never satisfactory but the men from Amman were competitive in a first appearance, despite some injury issues. A 3-1 loss against Austria in the opener did not reflect the match, with goalkeeping errors making a difference. Then there was a narrow loss to Algeria when Jordan took the lead, and a final game defeat to defending champions Argentina and an in-form Messi.

There will be mixed