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.
