Herve Renard praises Saudi Arabia after qualifying for 2022 World Cup

Saudi Arabia manager Herve Renard has paid tribute to his side for sealing World Cup qualification.

The Gulf nation secured their place on Thursday at Qatar 2022 before kicking off their penultimate Group B match with China in Sharjah, courtesy of Japan’s 2-0 win against Australia earlier in the day.

The victory in Sydney meant both Japan and Saudi Arabia qualify automatically for the World Cup later this year, while third-placed Australia have to settle for a play-off spot.

The Saudis, who eventually drew 1-1 with China at Sharjah Stadium, will participate at successive World Cups for the first time since 2006, and appear at their sixth global finals. Now second in the group, one point behind Japan, they conclude their final-round campaign against Australia in Jeddah on Tuesday.

“First of all, congratulations to everyone from Saudi for qualification,” Renard said following the China draw. “Two games before the end, we are already qualified - and that’s a very good thing.

“Of course, we also wanted to win this game and we had so many chances, but we didn’t score the second goal. The players achieved 20 points until now. We still have one game at home to score three more points in front of our fans.”

السّادسة تمّت! ✅ #صقورنا_إلى_كأس_العالم