Arab teams at World Cup 2026: Saudi Arabia and Iraq knocked out, Egypt draws with Iran
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia exited the World Cup at the group stage for the third tournament in a row, after a goalless draw with Cabo Verde at Houston Stadium on Friday.
Cape Verde (0-0-3, 3 points) are now the smallest nation ever to reach the second phase, finishing second in the group above Saudi Arabia (0-1-2, 2 points) and Uruguay (0-1-2, 2 points), who lost 1-0 in Friday night’s other group game to Spain (2-0-1, 7 points).
Saudi Arabia failed to advance for a sixth consecutive World Cup appearance after reaching the last 16 in their maiden tournament in 1994. Before Friday, Ghana and Ukraine were the last tournament debutants to progress from their group in 2006.
Nuno da Costa ran onto a throughball over the top from in his own half, drove at two Saudi defenders, then laid the ball to his right into the path of Laros Duarte’s surging run.
