Saudi Arabia are without question the Arabian peninsula's leading football nation. Since 1984, the side has contested the final of the Asian Cup five times in succession, lifting the trophy on three occasions. However, so far they have been unable to translate local success to a world level.
Saudi Arabia (First Blood qualification for 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
Saudi Arabia (The beginning of the Journey) 1984 Asian Cup
Saudi
Arabia 1986 World cup qualifiers for Mexico 86
Saudi Arabia
(Second Asian Cup) 1988 Asian Cup
Saudi Arabia 1989 World Cup Champions for Youth (Scotland)
Saudi Arabia 1989 World cup
qualifiers for Italia 90
Saudi Arabia 1992 Asian Cup
Japan
Saudi Arabia 1993 Confederation cup (The Al-Shabab Connection)
Saudi
Arabia 1993 World cup qualifications Doha Qater
Saudi Arabia 1994 World cup USA
Saudi Arabia 1994 Gulf cup
champions
Saudi Arabia 1996 Asian Cup UAE
Saudi Arabia 1998 World cup
France
Saudi Arabia 2000
Asian cup Lebanon
Saudi Arabia 2002
Gulf Cup champions Kuwait
Saudi Arabia 2002
Korea & Japan World cup
Saudi Arabia 2004 Gulf Cup
Qater
Saudi Arabia 2004 Asian Cup
China
Saudi
Arabia Continue to Fall and loser their Gulf Title
Saudi Arabia (First Blood qualification for 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
Saudi Side's first major entry into a major tournament occurred in 1984 Olympics. The team reached their on the shoulder of player like Majid Abdulla. The Saudi side would compete against the best such as Brazil and prove Saudia is a team on the rise.
Saudi Arabia (The beginning of the Journey) 1984 Asian Cup
Champions
Saudi Side started their successful journey to the top of Asian Football in 84 when they officially won the Asian cup for the first time on the shoulders of the Best Saudi Striker ever to set foot on Saudi soccer's frontiers. Majid Abdullah single scored a beautiful goal to guide Saudia over China in the final when he took the ball from his own half and danced pass the whole Chinese team & the goalie to score what was to become destiny for Saudi Soccer.
*MVP Majid Abdullah scored a breath taking solo effort against China in the final
Saudi Team faced huge problems in World cup qualifiers as each of their opposing teams would field 11 defenders against them and the Saudi team would not qualify for 1986 world cup. Similarly same fate awaited them in Gulf cup where fellow gulf nations opted to play defensively against Saudi team. The Saudi Team of the 1984- 1994 era was filled with the most talented of Saudi players which included , Majid Abdullah legendry Number 9 for Saudi Team , Mahaisen Al Juman (Who was nick named Asian Cobra) since he came on the stage in 1984 and partnered Majid to form a speedy due. They were backed by a gifted talented Fahad Al Haraifi (Al Bishi) who is known as the Musician by his fans.The skipper of the Team Salah Al Naima was also a star on the local stage and as well as the continental stage as he was the Franz Beckenbaur for Saudi Defense. Effective & solid in performance. The defence also included a talented Mohammed Abdul Jawed who was well known for his darting runs and pin point accurate crosses for Majid to convert into goals. The solid Saudi Team was secured by Daeya Senior. Saudi Team also included other talented player such as gifted Yousif Al Tinyan. Talent wise this Saudi team was far more talented then the team who would lace the boots in 1994 in USA.
Group 1
Saudi Arabia 1-1 South Korea
Kuwait
3-1 Syria
Qatar
1-1 Syria
Saudi Arabia 1-0 Kuwait
Kuwait
0-0 South Korea
Saudi Arabia 1-1 Qatar
South Korea 0-1 Syria
Kuwait
1-0 Qatar
Qatar
1-0 South Korea
Saudi Arabia 1-0 Syria
1.SAUDI ARABIA
4 2 2 0 4- 2 6
2.KUWAIT
4 2 1 1 4- 2 5
3.Qatar
4 1 2 1 3- 3 4
4.Syria
4 1 1 2 3- 5 3
5.South Korea
4 0 2 2 1- 3 2
Semifinals
Saudi Arabia 1-1 Iran
[5-4 pen; Dec 13]
China 1-0 Kuwait
Third Place Match [Dec 16]
Kuwait 1-1 Iran
[5-3 pen]
Final [Dec 16, Singapore]
Saudi Arabia 2-0 China
[10' Shaye Nafisah, 47' Majed Abdullah]
Saudi Arabia 1986 World cup qualifiers for Mexico 86
Saudi Team failed to reach the world cup with all their talented player in 1986. A surprise loss to UAE knocked the air out of Saudia
Sub-group A
[Oman withdrew]
12.04.1985 Saudi Arabia 0 - 0 United Arab Emirates
19.04.1985 United Arab Emirates 1 - 0 Saudi Arabia
TEAM P W D L F A GD PTS
1 - United Arab Emirates 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1 3
2 Saudi Arabia 2 0 1 1 0 1 -1 1
Daeya Senior won the Asian cup with Saudia Salah Al Naima was not able to go to World cup like Daeya Senior but he won two AFC cups
Saudi Arabia (Second Asian Cup) 1988 Asian Cup
Champions
Salah Naima lifted the Second Asian cup
After failiure to reach the world cup in 1986 the Saudi team entered the Asian cup in Qatar and thrashed opponents after opponents and finally they defeated Korea on Penelties with Fahad Al Haifi (Al Bishi) scoring the final goal that would lift the cup for Saudia. Naima lifted the second Asian cup for Saudi and Saudia proved once again that they are the best in Asia.
Majid with the gold Haraifi the Musician scored the winning penelty kick Tinyan a gifted dribler
*AFC never had a player of the year award before 1988 but from 1984-1996 Majid player a great role in Saudi Soccer and could have easily been asian player of the year candidate
Group 2
2-12-1988 Saudi Arabia 2-0 Syria
[20
Saleh Al Saleh, 82 Mohamed Sherbani]
3-12-1988 Kuwait 0-0
Bahrain
4-12-1988 China 3-0
Syria
[13 Gao
Shang, 14,19 Xie Yuxin]
5-12-1988 Saudi Arabia 0-0 Kuwait
6-12-1988 China 1-0
Bahrain
[78
Zhang Xiaowen]
8-12-1988 Syria 1-0
Kuwait
[63
Walid Nasser]
9-12-1988 Saudi Arabia 1-1 Bahrain
[78
Yousuf Al Ja'azeh; 44pen Favad Muhammad]
10-12-1988 China 2-2
Kuwait
[10,87
Ma Lin; 60pen Adel Hussein, 62 Mansoor Muhammad]
11-12-1988 Bahrain 0-1 Syria
[72
Walid Al Hel]
12-12-1988 Saudi Arabia 1-0 China
[56
Fand Alibishin]
1.SAUDI ARABIA
4 2 2 0 4- 1 6
2.CHINA
4 2 1 1 6- 3 5
3.Syria
4 2 0 2 2- 5 4
4.Kuwait
4 0 3 1 2- 3 3
5.Bahrain
4 0 2 2 1- 3 2
Semifinals
14-12-1988 South Korea 2-1 China
[aet]
[93,102
Lee Tae Ho; 100 Mai Chao]
15-12-1988 Saudi Arabia 1-0 Iran
[20
Majed Abdullah]
Third Place Match
17-12-1988 Iran 0-0
China [aet,
3-0 pen]
Final
18-12-1988 Saudi Arabia 0-0 South Korea
[aet, 4-3 pen]
Saudi
Arabia 1989 World Cup Champions for Youth (Scotland)
In a tournament full of surprises, Saudi Arabia's solid organisation, excellent
discipline and clear game plan proved decisive as they lifted the U-16 world
crown for the very first time. To go undefeated throughout the competition and
dispose of the hosts in the Final spoke volumes for the Saudi team spirit.
Expertly managed by the Brazilian Ivo Ardais Wortmann, the Asian representatives
were mean at the back, only leaking six
goals all tournament, largely thanks to keeper Khalid Al-Suwaileh and defenders
Sulaiman Al-Reshoudi and Adnan Abdulshkor. And the very fact they managed to win
and only score eight goals in the process is perhaps the most remarkable
statistic of the tournament. A new generation of soccer players were emerging
that saw that its possible to achieve a dream of lifting the World cup.
Saudi Arabia 1989 World cup qualifiers for Italia 90
Saudia again failed to reach world cup 1990 with a disastrous performace in the world cup qualifiers. Which was more of a pshychalogical issue then question of having the talent or not, clearly the team that won in 1984 & 1988 was just reaching its prime but it was not meant to be.
World cup was eluding Saudia!!!
Second Round
[Fixtures played in Singapore:]
12.10.1989 China 2 - 1 Saudi Arabia
12.10.1989 United Arab Emirates 0 - 0 North Korea
13.10.1989 South Korea 0 - 0 Qatar
16.10.1989 Qatar 1 - 1 Saudi Arabia
16.10.1989 South Korea 1 - 0 North Korea
17.10.1989 China 1 - 2 United Arab Emirates
20.10.1989 China 0 - 1 South Korea
20.10.1989 North Korea 2 - 0 Qatar
21.10.1989 Saudi Arabia 0 - 0 United Arab Emirates
24.10.1989 North Korea 0 - 1 China
24.10.1989 United Arab Emirates 1 - 1 Qatar
25.10.1989 Saudi Arabia 0 - 2 South Korea
[Fixtures played in Malaysia:]
28.10.1989 Qatar 2 - 1 China
28.10.1989 Saudi Arabia 2 - 0 North Korea
[Fixture played in Singapore:]
28.10.1989 United Arab Emirates 1 - 1 South Korea
1 * SOUTH KOREA
5 3 2 0 5 1 +4 8
2 * UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 5 1 4 0 4 3 +1 6
3 Qatar
5 1 3 1 4 5 -1 5
4 China
5 2 0 3 5 6 -1 4
5 Saudi Arabia
5 1 2 2 4 5 -1 4
6 North Korea
5 1 1 3 2 4 -2 3
Saudi Arabia 1992 Asian cup Japan
Saudia finaly lost their crown in the final in Japan a rising nation in Soccer they reached the final to be second best that day.
Group 2
29-10-1992 Saudi Arabia 1-1 China
[Al-Thunyan
17; Li Bang 41; ref: Sinichoro Obata (JAP);
att: 15,000]
29-10-1992 Qatar 1-1
Thailand
[Soufi
81; Areesngarkul 42; ref: Hossein Khoshkhan (IRAN);
att: 21,000]
31-10-1992 Saudi Arabia 1-1 Qatar
[Al-Muwallid
86; Noorallah 74; ref: Jouini Neji (TUN); att: 5,000]
31-10-1992 China 0-0
Thailand
[ref:
Noh Byung Il (SK); att: 5,000]
2-11-1992 Saudi Arabia 4-0 Thailand
[Owairan 4, Al-Bishi 19, 72, Al-Thunyan 64;
ref: Ali Bujsaim (UAE); att: 4,000]
2-11-1992 China 2-1
Qatar
[Peng
Weigho 44, 58; Al-Sulaiti 20; att: 4,500]
1.SAUDI ARABIA
3 1 2 0 6- 2 4
2.CHINA
3 1 2 0 3- 2 4
3.Qatar
3 0 2 1 3- 4 2
4.Thailand
3 0 2 1 1- 5 2
Semifinals
6-11-1992 Japan 3-2
China
[Fukuda
48, Kitazawa 57, Nakayama 84; Xie Yuxin 1, Li Xiao 70;
ref: Hussein Khoshkhan (IRAN); att: 15,000]
6-11-1992 Saudi Arabia 2-0 UAE
[Owairan 67, Al-Bishi 80; ref: Rasheed Al-Jassas (KUW);
att: 12,000]
Third Place Match
8-11-1992 China 1-1
UAE
[4-3 pen]
[Hao
Haidong 15; Mubarak 10; ref: Jouini Neji (TUN); att: 40,000]
Final
8-11-1992 Japan 1-0
Saudi Arabia
[Takagi
6; ref: Jamal Al-Sharif (SYR); att: 50,000]
Japan: Maekwa - Horiika, Hashiratani, Tsunamai, Ihara, Fukuda,
Ramos, Kitazawa, Yoshida (86' Katsuya),
Miura, Takagi
Saudi Arabia: Al Rzoan - Al Dosari, Al Alwi, Al Roomi, Al Khlwi, Al
Amin, Al Biski, Al Muwalldi, Owairan, Falatah (65'
Mehalel), Al Thunyan (goal keeper also reported as
Saker Al-Shujaa)
Saudi Arabia 1993 Confederation cup
In 1993 Saudia successfully hosting a major international tournament where they face top quality opponents and it basically allowed the Saudi players to overcome their pshychalogical problems in Qualifying for World cup. Saudia came second in the tournament. This is the time when players form Al Shabab club were causing havoc in local league winning everything & continentally in Gulf and in Arab competetions. Saeed Al Owairan scored a beautiful goal againt Argentina where the goolie punched the ball but the ball was hit with so much power then it kept going stright and into the net which the goolie kept looking.
Saudi Arabia 1993 World cup qualifications Doha Qater a touch of Majid
The stage was set in Doha, Saudi's success in part also came due to a club called Al Shabab in Saudia whose Youth Academy developed skill full players that complemented players form Naser , Hilal, Ittihad and Ahly clubs.
Mainly Al Shabab offered quality player to to Saudi Team such as Fuad Anwar Amin, Fahad Al Mahalel, Saeed Al Owairan, Anizi, Salah Al Dauod, Abdul Rahman Al Roomi were the cream of the crop of technically gifted players. These were not players with alot of flair but players who were good team players and they were technically very good at their positions. The Saudi team at that stage had Sami Al Jabir just starting to cause a roar, Fahad Al Ghishian was another Hilal player who was back from World Youth Cup duties where he won Man of the match award in Saudia vs Brazil game & Daeya was the goolie that made his mark from that cup. Ghishian single handedly too Saudi Youth Team to the world cup. Fahad was the most skillfull gifted Saudi player yet his potential was never harnessed but he contributed to Saudia's success.
[Top] Jawad - Fuad Anwar - Saeed Owairan - Daeeya - Khalaiwi - Masad -
[Botton] Fahad Mahelel - Abdullah Dosari - Ahmed Jamil Al Madani - Hamzah Salah Fallatah - Mansour Moeena
The team that started vs Iran in the final victory that took Saudia to their first world cup
The Saudi's had youth on their side, with a nervous start in Malaysia , Veteran forward Majid Abdullah was called in and he responded beating Malaysia with his trade mark solo goals. Then Majid Abdullah was back again with his super header against Kuwait the other team that stood in Saudia's way and Saudia managed to go through the final round. A notable absentee was Fahad Al Haraifi who was in problem with his local club. But the Saudi team had depth.
Dying 90 minute goal from Ahmed Al Jamil got the Saudis a point against Korea!!
Saudia drew with Japan who had Kazu Miyura - Roy Ramos - Kitazawa
The amazing 4-3 win vs Iran was a terrific battle where all the Saudi players contributed.
Second Round
[Fixtures played in Qatar:]
15.10.1993 North Korea 3 - 2 Iraq
15.10.1993 Saudi Arabia 0 - 0 Japan
16.10.1993 Iran 0 - 3 South Korea
18.10.1993 Japan 1 - 2 Iran
18.10.1993 North Korea 1 - 2 Saudi Arabia
19.10.1993 Iraq 2 - 2 South Korea
21.10.1993 North Korea 0 - 3 Japan
22.10.1993 Iran 1 - 2 Iraq
22.10.1993 South Korea 1 - 1 Saudi Arabia
24.10.1993 Iraq 1 - 1 Saudi Arabia
25.10.1993 Iran 2 - 1 North Korea
25.10.1993 Japan 1 - 0 South Korea
28.10.1993 Iraq 2 - 2 Japan
28.10.1993 Saudi Arabia 4 - 3 Iran
28.10.1993 South Korea 3 - 0 North Korea
1 * SAUDI ARABIA 5 2 3 0 8 6 +2 7
2 * SOUTH KOREA 5 2 2 1 9 4 +5 6
3 Japan
5 2 2 1 7 4 +3 6
4 Iraq
5 1 3 1 9 9 0 5
5 Iran
5 2 0 3 8 11 -3 4
6 North Korea
5 1 0 4 5 12 -7 2
FInally Saudia Qualified !!! While Japan had Tragedy of Doha!!
Saudi Arabia 1994 World cup USA
Saudia Entered the tournament as out siders. No one expected anything big from them and and in one friendly in Greece they lost 5-0 in a hostile crowd. That changed however when the whistle blew in 1994 in world cup when Saudia Took on Holland , Morocco , Belgium and Sweden. In what could be described as spectacular. Khalaiwi & Ahmed Jamil provided saudi team with so much security with their bone crunching tackles while the saudi midfield was filled with players like Majid Abdullah , Fahad Al Haraifi , Saeed Al Owairan, Fuad Anwar, Khalid Massad, Abdul Jawed, Abdullah Dosari, young Sami Al Jaber. Saudi shocked the world by fighting hard vs Holland and almost beat holland. Then defeated Morocco, Striker Saeed Al Owairan scored one of his best goals for his country or by an Asian in world cup against Belgium. Fahad Al Ghishian also scored a beautiful goal and it was amazing to see him on the bench with his talent but Saudia in 1994 were so good that players like Ghisian were on the bench. Daeya kept making spectacular saves and Saudia held their heads high in the air that year. Better thing were yet to come.
*Saeed Al Owairan won the Asian player of the year award from AFC in 1994
Saudi Arabia 1994 Gulf cup Triumph
Saudia finaly broke the curse of Gulf cup in 1994 , they have come close to winning the inaugural championship compromised Western Asian continent twice in 1972 and 1974 and both times Kuwait stood in their way. But in 1994 that was to change Captain Fuad Anwar (Also known as Fuad Amin) lifted Saudi Team on his own shoulders. Scoring in each game in which saudia played one by one eliminating opponents and thus Saudia won Gulf cup for the first time in their history on Shoulders of one Fuad Anwar.
Fuad (DF/MF) Fahad Al Mahalel (FW) Saeed Al Owairan (CF)
(This trio played for Al Shahbab club which dominated Saudi League in Early Nineties)
Champions
Saudia took back the cup and completed the hatrik to own the AFC cup for ever. In the final they defeated UAE, while they knocked out Iran in semi finals and took revenge for their round robin entry.
Group B [Dubai]
5-12-96 16:45 Saudi Arabia 6-0 Thailand
19:00 Iran 1-2 Iraq
8-12-96 16:45 Saudi Arabia 1-0 Iraq
19:00 Thailand 1-3 Iran
11-12-96 16:45 Saudi Arabia 0-3 Iran
19:00
Iraq 4-1 Thailand
1.IRAN
3 2 0 1 7- 3 6
2.SAUDI ARABIA 3
2 0 1 7- 3 6
3.IRAQ
3 2 0 1 6- 3 6
4.Thailand
3 0 0 3 2-13 0
Quarterfinals
[Abu Dhabi]
15-12-96 16:45 UAE 1-0
Iraq
[asdet]
[Al Ain]
15-12-96 19:30 Kuwait 2-0 Japan
[Dubai]
16-12-96 16:45 South Korea 2-6 Iran
[Abu Dhabi]
16-12-96 19:30 Saudi Arabia 4-3 China
Semifinals [Abu Dhabi]
19-12-96 16:45 UAE 1-0
Kuwait
19:00 Iran
0-0 Saudi Arabia [asdet, 3-4 pen]
Third Place Match [Abu Dhabi]
21-12-96 16:45 Iran 1-1 Kuwait
[3-2 pen]
Final [Abu Dhabi]
21-12-96 19:00 Saudi Arabia 0-0 UAE
[asdet, 4-2 pen]
Saudi Arabia 1998 World cup France
Saudia qualified with force from their group as the top team while Iran was left to fight for the second last berth
Saudia had a dull game against Denmark , they lost the game 1-0 a very competitive game, they were out classed by France 4-0 but we all know that French team was the team of the decade in the world and what they did to Brazil in the final but Saudi left the world cup on a good note and a competitive 2-2 draw and also the world saw glimpses of a new Saudi sensation Nawaf Al Timyat
Fuad - Nawaf - Yousif Nawaf Sami and Saeed
Saudi Arabia 2000 Asian cup Lebanon
Asian cup 2000 could be simply defined as an example of Saudi Will and determination, the Saudi team was out classes in the first game 4-1 against Japan and Philippe Trousie's side. The Saudi team then woke up and demolished every opponents it faced to set a date with destiny. Saudia controlled the whole game, Nawaf Al timyat and Talal Mishel led the Saudi attack. Saudi even got a penalty in the game but lady luck was not on their side. Saudia eventually lost 1-0 that night but Saudi proved that they are a force in the Asian game and one defeat could not halt them.
Nawaf Talal Mishel Shalhoob
*Nawaf won the Asian player for the year award in 2000
Nawaf Al Timyat destroyed Kuwait with his golden goal, and went on to claim Asian player of the year for 2000. Talal single handly destroyed opponents with his speed and pace.
Saudi Arabia 2002 Gulf Cup champions Kuwait
Champions
Saudia successfully won Gulf cup for the second time by beating rivals in Western Asia Kuwait came second in the cup.
Abdullah Al Juman Unleashes a Thunder bolt Saqri a great talented player
Saudi Arabia 2002 Korea & Japan World cup
Saudia sensationally qualified beating the odds and on shoulders of a player named Sheehan who broke on to the team on his own will power. Unlucky for Sheehan he got injured on the last game after leading Saudia into their 3 straight world cup.
Sheehan (Nominated for AFC player of year) Yami Otaibi Sami Al Jaber
*Sheehan was nominated for Asian player of the year in 2001
This was the lowest point in Saudi Soccer, Saudia lost to Germany 8-0 as they were not prepared for the technical flaws in their own side which led to a near destruction against Germany. German team used the tall players to over power and out dual Saudi players and destroyed Saudi Team. This was the first time Saudi players just gave up their will was broken.
The Saudis bounced back and showed a great determination to fight off with Cameroon who were African Champions , but they missed so many chances and Cameroon managed to get a win, a bad world cup finally ended with a rain drenched game vs Ireland where it was very hard to mark players competed with Ireland
Saudi Arabia 2004 Gulf Cup Qate
Champions
Saudia gradually bounced back form disaster of world cup, and took gulf cup with style with a new younger team, defeating all the western Asian nations convincingly to lift the gold
Daeya with Gulf cup Khamis marking his man Rida Takar
Saudi Arabia 2004 Asian Cup China
A disastrous exit form first round too many players were injured , Saudis was missing their goalie they had to use 6th available goalie to play the competition their star Midfield player Noor & Daeya was injured Hussein Abdul Ghani was not selected.
Saudi Arabia Continue to Fall and looser their Gulf Title
A disastrous loose this time the Saudi team , lost its Gulf Cup tile to Winners Qatar, who over came Omani Team in the final