2026 World Cup: After investing 2 billion, Saudi Arabia seeks results

After attracting football stars with billions of dollars, Saudi Arabia is approaching the 2026 World Cup under pressure, with its national team struggling to regain the level that allowed it to create a sensation against Argentina in 2022.

The powerful Gulf monarchy has invested nearly two billion dollars in football in three years, recruiting Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema, to make the Saudi Pro League one of the most financially attractive leagues in the world.

Riyadh also secured the hosting of the 2034 World Cup, a key element of its strategy to diversify its still heavily oil-dependent economy by attracting tourists and investors.

But on the field, the results of the national team are struggling to keep up.

The "Green Falcons" only secured their qualification for this 48-team World Cup after the playoffs, thanks to a 3-2 victory against Indonesia and then a 0-0 draw against Iraq.

- "Don't give up" -

A series of defeats in March cost French coach Hervé Renard his job, ending his second stint after succeeding Italian Roberto Mancini.

Appointed just two months before the tournament, Greek coach Georgios Donis believes Saudi players are suffering from a lack of playing time in clubs now filled with foreign stars. While "Saudi players learn a lot from experienced players from Europe," they "no longer have the same opportunities to play as before," Donis told AFP at the Asian Cup draw last month.

"We need the players to play more, with more pace and intensity," he added.

Placed in a difficult Group H, with Spain, Uruguay and Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia nevertheless retains its chances, as eight of the twelve best third-placed teams can secure their place in the round of 32.

"The Saudi players have great potential. They must continue to work, not give up" and prove that they have their place in the national team, according to the coach.

Traditionally one of the strong nations of Asian football, with three Asian Cups to its credit, Saudi Arabia is competing in its seventh World Cup.

- "Intermediate stage" -

For Amro Elserty, a Middle Eastern sports analyst based in France, the team's success has historically relied on seasoned players in one of the continent's most competitive local leagues.

"Then the league changed completely. Saudi clubs started replacing local players with foreign recruits," he told AFP.

"Not just global stars, but also older players and foreign professionals occupying positions that previously allowed Saudis to develop," he explains.

"The result was predictable: the Saudi internationals stopped playing regularly," he asserts, especially since only one member of the Falcons plays abroad, Lens defender Saud Abdulhamid.

For Simon Chadwick, a sports specialist at Emlyon Business School in Shanghai, the pressure is high to do better than in Qatar, where the Saudis beat Argentina before being eliminated in the group stage.

"This year's tournament is nevertheless an intermediate step on the road to 2034," he points out. "The question is what objectives have been set and how progress will be assessed."