Saudi Gazette report

DOHA — Saudi Arabia’s debut participation in the FIFA World Cup 1994 held in the United States continues to remain the best-ever tournament in the history of the team nicknamed “the Green Falcons.”

In that World Cup, the Saudi squad reached the knockout second round for the first time though the team played a total of six World Cups since then.

The Saudi national team went out of the group stage of the World Cup 2022 competitions. After suffering losses against Poland and Mexico, the Saudis were placed at the bottom of Group C with 3 points from their upset victory against Argentina.

The Green Falcons reached the second round in 1994 by securing six points after sealing two victories over Morocco and Belgium and a loss at the hands of the Netherlands. The Saudis lost to Sweden 3-1 in the knockout round. In the US World Cup, the team scored six goals and conceded seven.

In the Qatar World Cup 2022, the Saudi squad sealed a historic victory over Argentina 2-1 in the opening match, before falling to Poland and Mexico 2-0 and 2-1 respectively. The squad’s participation in the Qatar World Cup ended with scoring three goals and conceding five.

In the 2018 Russian World Cup, the Green Falcons came in third place in group matches after they gained victory over Egypt and suffered two losses against Russia and Uruguay, scoring of two goals, while conceding seven goals.

In 1998 and 2006, Saudis scored only single points, scoring two goals and conceding seven goals. The 2002 World Cup is considered the worst in Saudi history after the team lost all its three matches conceding 12 goals.