The Saudi green has the lion’s share.. the history of the participation of the Gulf teams in the World Cup

Prior to the launch of the expected Arab version of the World Cup, during this report we review the participation of the Gulf teams in the World Cup, which the Kuwaiti blue ribbon was cut in Spain 1982, and the tournament was held from June 13 to July 11, led by veteran coach Carlos Alberto Pereira, and it came out of the groups stage, after the draw placed it in a group that includes England, France and Czechoslovakia, where it started to meet Czechoslovakia and Al-Azraq succeeded in achieving a tie in its first historic match in the World Cup thanks to Faisal Al-Dakhil’s goal. In the second round, it was defeated by the French roosters led by Platini 1/4, and in the last match in the group stage, it lost to England 0-1.

The second Gulf team qualified for the international football wedding, the Lions of Mesopotamia, in the 1986 edition of Mexico, and the draw resulted in the Iraqi team falling into the second group, which included the owner of the land, the Mexican team, Paraguay and Belgium. Of course, the experience did not help the Lions of Rafidain in the first meeting, which they lost to Paraguay with a goal without a response, and also received the second loss against Bejlica 1/2, in the meeting that witnessed the only Iraqi goal by the Iraqi legend Ahmed Radi, to bid farewell to the competition after losing the last round match against Mexico with a goal without a response.

The United Arab Emirates also qualified for the World Cup in Italy 1990, and fell into a group that includes West Germany, Yugoslavia, and Colombia, and lost the first confrontation to Colombia 0-2, and in the second meeting they lost to West Germany 1/5, and in the last meeting in the group stage they lost to Yugoslavia 1/4, to leave the tournament without points.

While Saudi Arabia (the most participating) appeared in the world football forum for the first time in 1994 in the World Cup in the United States of America, which is the best participation ever in the history of Saudi football in terms of results and numbers. As the Saudi green team managed at the time to reach the round of sixteen, the green team faced the Dutch team in the opening match and lost by two goals to one, and in the second round, it faced its Moroccan brother and managed to score the first three points in its history during the tournament after beating the Atlas Lions with two goals to one. In its last matches of the group stage, Al-Akhdar managed to seize the three points after defeating the Belgian team with a clean goal, this victory raised its score to six points, which enabled it to reserve the transit ticket for the next round.

In the round of sixteen, Saudi Arabia faced Sweden, who managed to beat Saudi Arabia by three goals to one, ending the Saudi team’s journey in the World Cup.

The second participation of the Saudi team in the World Cup France 1998, and the draw for that version of the tournament took place alongside Denmark and Austria, and the crowned French team, and that participation was not up to the ambition, as Al-Akhdar was satisfied with achieving one point in the group stage that did not intercede for it to pass to the round Next, it lost its opening match against Denmark with a goal without a reply, and lost the second match against the French rooster by four clean goals, and in its last matches it managed to seize one point after the positive tie with a goal dominated its match with South Africa.

The Saudi team’s third participation in the World Cup came in South Korea and Japan 2002, and its group in that tournament included Germany, Cameroon and Ireland. Al-Akhdar faced its German counterpart in the opening match, and the German machines rained the net against the Greens with eight clean goals, then met Cameroon in the second match of the group stage and lost to the Africans with a clean goal, and in their last matches of the group stage, the Saudi team suffered a third loss after losing to the Republic of Ireland by three clean goals.

The Saudi team’s fourth participation in the World Cup was in the 2006 World Cup in Germany for the fourth time in a row in its history, and its group included Tunisia, Ukraine, and Spain. This version of the Greens was not better than the previous one, as it continued its failure to pass to the next round, where it met the start of his Tunisian brother in the opening match, and the positive tie with one goal dominated the atmosphere of the match, then faced the Ukrainian team in the second match of the group stage and lost by four clean goals.

While the fifth participation of the Saudi team in the World Cup came after the absence of the green from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and 2014 in Brazil, and its fifth qualification came in 2018 in Russia, and its group included Egypt, Russia and Uruguay. Al-Akhdar opened its confrontations by meeting the Russian bear in the opening match, and the latter managed to break the green nets with clean five goals, then the Uruguayan team met them in the second match of the group stage and lost by a clean goal, and in its last matches of the group stage, it met its Egyptian brother. Al-Akhdar managed to win two goals for one and collect the three points, but it was not enough to give it the crossing card. Now Saudi Arabia is getting ready to participate in the World Cup for the sixth time in its history as the most participating Gulf and Arab teams in the global forum, with a high ceiling of ambition to achieve better participation and reach the farthest possible point in an exceptional Arab World Cup.