Saudi Arabia’s greatest World Cup moments

Saudi Arabia’s Salem Al-Dawsari goes up against Argentina’s Lionel Messi during a World Cup match in which the Saudi side scored a historical upset at Qatar’s Lusail Stadium on Nov. 22, 2022. (AFP)
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Updated 12 December 2024
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Saudi Arabia’s greatest World Cup moments

  • Al-Owairan received the ball inside his own half and embarked on an astonishing run that saw one Belgian defender after another beaten, before finishing past Michel Preud’homme
  • Saleh Al-Shehri equalized straight after the break and just five minutes later Salem Dawsari sent Saudi and Arab fans wild with one of the tournament’s most stunning goals

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia has taken part in six World Cup tournaments, an Arab record it shares with Morocco and Tunisia. Here are our favorite Green Falcons moments from football’s grandest stage.

5. Saudi defeat Egypt to end winless streak (Russia 2018)

Saudi Arabia returned to the World Cup after an absence of 12 years at Russia 2018 and while there would be no progress from the group stage as there was in the Green Falcons’ debut at USA 1994, there was a first win since that tournament 24 years earlier.

Saudi suffered a painful 5-0 defeat against the hosts on the opening day of the tournament and followed that up with a narrow 1-0 loss against Uruguay. It meant that while the final Group A match against fellow Arab qualifiers Egypt was a dead rubber, pride was very much still at stake.

 

Mohamed Salah, after a stellar season for Liverpool, gave Egypt a 1-0 lead, but deep into stoppage time at the end of the first half, Salman Al-Faraj equalized from the penalty spot.

As the clock passed the 90-minute mark it looked like both teams would be heading home without a win, but Salem Al-Dawsari scored in the 95th minute to make it 2-1 and end the Green Falcon’s 15-match winless World Cup streak.

4. Almost a perfect send-off for Sami Al-Jaber (Germany 2006)

It was almost the ideal end for arguably Saudi Arabia’s greatest ever footballer.

The 2006 World Cup in Germany may not have ended up being too fondly remembered by Saudi fans but it did provide an early moment which hinted at a repeat of the team’s 1994 heroics.

The Green Falcons’ opening match against Tunisia at the Allianz Arena in Munich saw the North African team take the lead from Ziad Jaziri after only 23 minutes but the Saudis struck back with a fine finish by Yasser Al-Qahtani on 57 minutes.

Enter Al-Jaber. Wearing his favored No. 9 green shirt, he was introduced as a substitute after 82 minutes and within moments he was bearing down on Tunisian goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel with the goal at his mercy. Al-Jaber did not disappoint, scoring Saudi’s second before being mobbed by his ecstatic teammates.

Unfortunately for the team managed by Marcos Paqueta, Tunisia equalized in the dying seconds and Saudi went on to lose their next two matches against Ukraine and Spain.

But at least Al-Jaber’s fourth and last World Cup had ended like his first, with a goal for his beloved Saudi Arabia.

3. Al-Ghesheyan stunner gives Saudi a fleeting dream (US 1994)

Saudi Arabia had already created history by progressing from the group stages at the US World Cup in 1994 and their reward was a round of 16 clash with Sweden, who would end up being one of the teams of the tournament.

In the stifling heat of Cotton Bowl in Dallas, the Green Falcons, fresh off a stunning win over Belgium in their previous match, put on brave display but found themselves two goals down after an early header from Martin Dahlin and a strike from Kennet Andersson six minutes after the break.

Just as it looked like an exhausted team was only minutes from heading home, up popped substitute Fahad Al-Ghesheyan to breathe life into Saudi Arabia’s World Cup campaign and allow the fans to dream again.

The 21-year-old collected the ball inside the Swedish penalty area and unleashed a right-foot strike into the roof of the net five minutes from time to suddenly give Saudi hope of a stunning comeback.

But just two minutes later, Andersson scored his second to give Sweden a 3-1 win and eliminate the Falcons from the competition. They had become the first Arab nation to reach the last 16 in their first attempt and no team from the region would progress further until 2022.

2. Al-Owairan scores one of the World Cup’s greatest goals (USA 1994)

To Diego Maradona’s iconic solo goal against England in 1986 and Roberto Baggio’s international career-launching strike against Czechoslovakia in 1990, you can add Saeed Al-Owairan’s remarkable winner against Belgium in 1994.

Saudi Arabia’s debut at the World Cup had ended with a 2-1 loss to reigning European champions the Netherlands at the RFK Stadium in Washington D.C., but in their second Group F match, they managed an excellent 2-1 win over Morocco at the Giants Stadium in New York.

It meant that progress to the last 16 would depend on their result against Belgium, and the Green Falcons would go on to record one of their greatest ever results back at the RFK.

Only five minutes into the match, Al-Owairan received the ball inside his own half and embarked on an astonishing run that saw one Belgian defender after another beaten, before the forward finished past stranded goalkeeper Michel Preud’homme.

The stunned Belgians had no answer to that goal in the next 85 minutes. Saudi Arabia, in their first World Cup, were heading to the last 16 and Al-Owairan had written his name alongside the World Cup greats.

1. Saudi claim greatest win over Messi’s Argentina (Qatar 2022)

There can be few debates about Saudi Arabia’s greatest World Cup moment.

Few people would have given Herve Renard’s team much hope of a victory when they took on Lionel Messi and Argentina at Lusail Stadium on Nov. 22, 2022.

And sure enough it was the Argentine maestro who gave the South Americans the lead on 10 minutes from the penalty spot. But the expected Argentinian procession did not materialize. Instead, the Falcons, through gritty defending and smart counterattacks, slowly grew into the game.

The second half would be a revelation. First Saleh Al-Shehri equalized straight after the break and just five minutes later Salem Dawsari sent Saudi and Arab fans in the stadium and around the world wild with one of the tournament’s most stunning goals.

Messi and his colleagues would go on to win the World Cup, but that day they had no answer to Saudi Arabia’s tigerish performance.

There would be no progress from the group stage for the Falcons, but the 2-1 scoreline gave them their most famous victory and they would end the tournament as the eventual world champions’ only conquerors.


Spanish police say Liverpool player Diogo Jota and his brother have died in a car accident in Spain

Updated 6 sec ago
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Spanish police say Liverpool player Diogo Jota and his brother have died in a car accident in Spain

MADRID: Liverpool player Diogo Jota and his brother have died in a car accident in Spain, police said Thursday.
The Spanish civil guard confirmed to The Associated Press that Jota and his brother were found dead after their car went off a road near the western city of Zamora.
Police were investigating the causes. They said there were no other vehicles involved.
The 28-year-old Jota and his brother, 25-year-old Andre Silva, both Portuguese players, were in the car.
Jota also played for Portugal’s national team. Silva played with Portuguese club Penafiel in the lower divisions.

Diego Luna’s 2 goals lift US past Guatemala into Gold Cup final

Updated 03 July 2025
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Diego Luna’s 2 goals lift US past Guatemala into Gold Cup final

  • Luna, a 5-foot-8 Real Salt Lake midfielder, scored his first US goal on Sunday against Costa Rica and leads the team in goal contributions in 2025 with seven (three goals, four assists)
  • The US will play either Honduras or Mexico, who play later Thursday, on Sunday in Houston

ST. LOUIS, Missouri: Diego Luna scored twice in the first 15 minutes and the US men’s national team held on for a 2-1 victory over Guatemala in St. Louis on Wednesday to advance to the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Luna tallied in the fourth and 15th minutes before Olger Escobar made it 2-1 in the 80th minute.

American goalkeeper Matt Freese made four saves, including a diving stop at the left post on Joes Morales in the second minute of second-half stoppage time.

The US will play either Honduras or Mexico, who play later Thursday, on Sunday in Houston.

Luna, a 5-foot-8 Real Salt Lake midfielder, scored his first US goal on Sunday against Costa Rica and leads the team in goal contributions in 2025 with seven (three goals, four assists).

At this time a year ago, he was miffed that he was not selected for the US Olympic team for the Paris Games.

Now, he is a mainstay, at least for this iteration of a team that does not include most of the European-based players. Still, Luna appears to be playing his way onto the roster for the 2026 World Cup.

He opened the scoring with his quick reaction to rebound of a long shot by Luca de la Torre. Goalkeeper Kenderson Navarro fumbled the ball straight to Luna, who brought it down with his right foot before delivering a left-footed strike.

Luna silenced the pro-Guatemala even further with his laser from 22 yards after taking a pass from Malik Tillman.

The desperate Guatemalans dominated the rest of the half, outshooting the US 12-2 over the final 20 minutes.

Navarro was the story early in the second half as the US looked for a third goal. First, he parried a header by Patrick Agyemang in the 62nd minute, then two minutes later Agyemang broke free but couldn’t get the ball past the keeper.

The saves proved huge when Escobar dribbled to the top of the box and slipped a shot through several Americans.

This was the nations’ first-ever meeting in a Gold Cup knockout round and Guatemala’s first appearance in a Gold Cup semifinal since 1996.


Hosts Switzerland beaten 2-1 by Norway in their Women’s Euro opener

Updated 03 July 2025
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Hosts Switzerland beaten 2-1 by Norway in their Women’s Euro opener

  • The hosts had plenty of opportunities to grab what would have been a famous victory but the Norwegians dug deep to snatch a narrow win
  • The victory puts the Norwegians top of Group A, with Finland second after their 1-0 win over Iceland earlier in the day

BASEL, Switzerland: Switzerland took the lead against Norway but fell to a 2-1 defeat on home soil after scoring an own goal on the opening day of the Women’s Euro 2025 Championship on Wednesday, with Norwegian captain Ada Hegerberg netting the equalizer and missing a penalty.

The hosts had plenty of opportunities to grab what would have been a famous victory but the Norwegians dug deep to snatch a narrow win, their third over the Swiss by a single goal in 2025.

Having lost to the Norwegians twice in the Nations League this year, the home side dominated the opening 45 minutes and Geraldine Reuteler came close to giving them the lead in the 24th minute with a shot that cannoned back off the crossbar before Nadine Riesen struck four minutes later to send the St. Jakob-Park Stadium into raptures.

Riesen reacted quickly to an attack that broke down, rattling the ball past Vilde Boe Risa and off the near post into the net to send the Swiss fans at St. Jakob-Park into raptures.

However, it was a different story after the break and it was Norway’s Hegerberg who turned the page.

After barely featuring in the first half, she leveled nine minutes into the second with an emphatic header from a corner that briefly silenced the home crowd and four minutes later, under pressure from Hegerberg, Switzerland’s Julia Stierli turned a low cross from Caroline Graham Hansen into her own net.

Reuteler was sparkling throughout for the Swiss but despite a number of golden chances, she could not get the goal both she and her team deserved, and she conceded a penalty which Hegerberg missed in the 70th minute.

Switzerland were awarded a spot-kick of their own that was overturned after a VAR review and, as the Swiss poured forward, the Norwegians hung on grimly for a victory that puts them top of Group A, with Finland second after their 1-0 win over Iceland earlier in the day.

“This was important, this means a lot for us... the goal was euphoria for me but it was damn important for the team as well,” Hegerberg told Norwegian broadcaster TV2.

“It is very strong of us to manage to turn it around. It may not happen in the prettiest way. We were told forcefully during the break that we did not run enough, then we saw two clips, a defensive and offensive, about how to take them, I think we managed to do that,” vice-captain Graham Hansen said.

Swiss coach Pia Sundhage was unhappy that her side did not manage to get more out of the game.

“I think it’s very heavy, a defeat like that. Our game plan was good and we even scored a goal... today it’s tough but tomorrow we’ll see a smile and start working,” she told broadcaster SVT.


NEOM and McLaren light up Trafalgar Square with bold vision and design

Updated 03 July 2025
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NEOM and McLaren light up Trafalgar Square with bold vision and design

  • The Formula E partners unveil bold new look for their cars during McLaren Racing Live: London, a two-day event in the British capital
  • The new look introduces vibrant tones inspired by Oxagon, a reimagined industrial city within NEOM focusing on clean, connected manufacturing

LONDON: In a celebration of speed, innovation and cross-continental ambition, the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team on Wednesday unveiled a bold new livery, marking a major moment in their partnership.

Their redesigned Formula E car — wearing a vivid blue “away kit” inspired by NEOM’s industrial hub Oxagon — was revealed at Trafalgar Square as part of McLaren Racing Live: London, a two-day public experience in the city packed with fan interactions, high-tech exhibits, and team appearances.

It represents more than simply a new paint job; it is a visual embodiment of a partnership that aims to accelerate sustainable transformation and push the boundaries of sport, tech and industry.

The new look, developed jointly by NEOM and McLaren, retains the team’s signature papaya touches but introduces vibrant tones inspired by the identity of Oxagon, a reimagined industrial city within NEOM focusing on clean, connected manufacturing.

“This isn’t just about a new look,” said Ian James, the managing director and team principal of McLaren Electric Racing. “It symbolizes the deeper connection between McLaren’s racing heritage and Oxagon’s vision for clean, connected industry.

“NEOM has been with us since the very beginning and now, with this second bespoke livery, we have another opportunity to showcase what the partnership truly represents.”

In an exclusive interview with Arab News, James praised the enthusiasm he has witnessed among the Saudi youth and said the partnership with NEOM continues to inspire and have a real impact.

“What’s incredible about NEOM is that it really is a blueprint for how we can live in the future,” he said. “It’s all about sustainable innovation, something we at McLaren strive to embody through our own technology and engineering.”

James also touched on the success of the Oxagon x McLaren Accelerator business-development program.

“Some of the startups we’ve supported are already piloting next-gen tech, like predictive maintenance systems and robotic container handling,” he said. “These are not just ideas; they’re becoming reality.”

Team drivers Sam Bird and Taylor Barnard also shared their views on the partnership with NEOM. Bird, a seasoned Formula E competitor, said the collaboration fits seamlessly with McLaren’s own mindset.

“This partnership works so well because NEOM’s core values of pushing boundaries, innovation and technology mirror what we believe in at McLaren,” Bird said.

“Every time I visit NEOM I’m blown away by how fast it’s expanding and the scale of ambition.”

He also hinted at what lies ahead: “I know NEOM is developing a bespoke race track as part of a new car club — and if we ever got to race there, that would be unbelievable.”

Barnard, one of the team’s younger talents, noted the ways in which the partnership has influenced his own developing career.

“Formula E is about future-focused racing, and NEOM is the very definition of a future-focused project,” he said. “Being part of something like this is not only exciting for us drivers, it has the potential to inspire a whole new generation, especially in Saudi Arabia.”

Reflecting on his visits to NEOM, Barnard added: “It’s a fascinating environment, and as a young driver it makes me optimistic. This kind of global collaboration shows what’s possible when sport and innovation work hand in hand.”

Vishal Wanchoo, the CEO of Oxagon said: “When you combine McLaren’s performance DNA with Oxagon’s clean industrial mission, you don’t just build cars, you shape the future of industry.”

The team’s takeover of Trafalgar Square was not just about the spectacle. It offered Londoners, and visiting international fans, the chance to get up close with McLaren racing cars used in F1, IndyCar, Formula E, and more. Children from local schools took part in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities, and fans of all ages had a chance to try out racing simulators, pit-stop challenges, and virtual reaction walls.

With the ABB FIA Formula E season finale set to take place in London on July 26 and 27, the NEOM McLaren team is not just chasing results on the track, it aims to redefine what racing partnerships can look like in a changing world.

As the crowd gathered beneath the towering lions of Trafalgar Square, one thing was certain: this was about more than motorsport. It was a statement. A platform. And if NEOM and McLaren have their way, it will be just the beginning.


Liverpool defender Quansah signs for Bayer Leverkusen

Updated 02 July 2025
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Liverpool defender Quansah signs for Bayer Leverkusen

  • The transfer fee for the 22-year-old could go up to $47m
  • “We are very happy to be able to sign Jarell Quansah, one of the most promising English central defenders,” said Rolfes

MUNICH: Center-half Jarell Quansah has joined Bayer Leverkusen from Premier League champions Liverpool for a reported club record fee, the Bundesliga side announced on Wednesday.

According to British and German press, the transfer fee for the 22-year-old could go up to 40 million euros ($47 million), including 10 million euros in add-ons.


German specialist media Kicker and The Athletic also reported the inclusion of a 60-million-euros buy-back clause in the contract, which Liverpool could activate from summer 2027 to re-sign Quansah.

“We are very happy to be able to sign Jarell Quansah, one of the most promising English central defenders,” said Leverkusen managing director of sport Simon Rolfes.

“He made a very impressive contribution to a Liverpool defense full of world-class players. Jarell will give our defense extra dynamism, tempo and strength.”

Quansah becomes the most expensive signing in Leverkusen’s history, following on from the previous record arrival of midfielder Kerem Demirbay for 32 million euros in 2019.

The 2025 European under-21 champion with England joined Liverpool’s academy as a five-year-old, and rose through the ranks before making his first-team debut in 2023.

He went on to appear 58 times for the Merseysiders, winning the League Cup in 2022 and 2024, as well as the Premier League title last season.

After playing second fiddle to first-choice defensive duo Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate for much of the 2024/25 campaign, Quansah arrives at Leverkusen to replace departed former captain Jonathan Tah at the heart of the Bundesliga club’s defense.

“The ambitious targets here were clearly explained to me during the negotiations. It’s a great role and challenge for me to be part of the current Leverkusen rebuild,” said Quansah.

After creating league history by winning the Bundesliga undefeated in 2024, Leverkusen endured a difficult title defense last term, finishing 13 points adrift of winners Bayern Munich.

Stars of their league-and-cup double from two seasons years ago, Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong, have recently gone in the opposite direction from Quansah, joining Liverpool from Leverkusen this close-season.