Local identity is key if Saudi Arabia plan to repeat 1994 World Cup in 2034

​The Saudi national team’s elimination at the group stage of the 2026 World Cup — and their failure to defeat Cape Verde — was not surprising at all.

Argentina struggled against them, and Spain and Uruguay were unable to defeat them. Perhaps the problem lies with the team or elsewhere, but I rule out the possibility that the solution lies only in someone’s resignation or holding another accountable, because that does not explain the Saudi national team’s 30-year absence from winning at championships.

What has been said requires an honest and impartial answer, and I believe such an answer is available. It can be discussed as follows.

We cannot hold outgoing Saudi Arabian Federation President Yasser Al-Misehal and his team responsible for the failures that preceded his tenure, because the decline began with the introduction of professional contracts in 1993, and the local football community became a platform for concealing shortcomings of Saudi players.

The quality of foreign stars at the SPL clubs helped mask the technical and physical shortcomings of Saudi players. 

Their absence from the national team stripped away the fig leaf covering local players — a fact confirmed by their mostly lackluster performances abroad.

Even their former coach, Roberto Mancini, said that they “do not know how to play football”, as alleged in national team player Ali Al-Bulaihi’s statement in an interview broadcast on April 8, 2025, and published by the Saudi sports newspaper. The current situation has proved that Mancini’s assessment was spot-on, and anyone who has watched the national team’s recent matches will certainly notice their lack of even the most basic skills in receiving and passing under pressure.

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