Doha, June 01 (QNA) - Saudi Arabia will participate in the FIFA World Cup 2026 finals, which will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, with renewed ambitions in the biggest tournament that will witness, for the first time, the participation of 48 teams.

 Saudi Arabia dreams of repeating the achievement of the 1994 generation that shone in the United States World Cup during their first participation, when the team begins its journey in the next edition, within Group H, which includes Spain, Uruguay and Cape Verde.

Team Saudi Arabia will begin its group stage matches by facing Uruguay at Miami Stadium on June 15, before meeting Spain at Atlanta Stadium on June 21, and then concluding its journey with a match against Cape Verde at Houston Stadium on June 26.

Team Saudi Arabia has high hopes for the Greek coach, Giorgos Donis, 56, who took over the team from Frenchman Herve Renard on April 23.

The coach has extensive experience in Saudi football after several years of work, when he supervised the training of Al Hilal, Al Khaleej, Al Fateh and Al Wahda clubs, which gave him experience approaching ten years.

 Team Saudi Arabia is preparing to record its seventh appearance in the finals since its first appearance in the United States in 1994, thus consolidating its permanent presence in the World Cup, as it has only missed the football extravaganza in two editions.

 Throughout its previous participations, team Saudi Arabia reached the knockout stages only once, making it one of the key representatives of Asia in the tournament's history. It returns to the United States, where it witnessed its World Cup debut and key achievement, setting its sights on a new participation that keeps pace with the development of Saudi football and the ambitions of its fans.

Team Saudi Arabia's previous participations in the World Cup finals during the years 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022, with a total record of 19 matches during which it achieved four wins, two draws and suffered 13 losses, scoring 14 goals and receiving 44.

 Sami Al Jaber and Salem Al Dawsari share the top spot among team Saudi Arabia goalscorers in the World Cup finals with three goals each. Al Jaber scored his goals in the 1994, 1998 and 2006 tournaments, becoming the first Saudi player to score in three different editions. Al Dawsari scored his goals in Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, where he scored against Argentina and Mexico. Behind them comes Fouad Anwar with two goals, which he scored in the 1994 finals against the Netherlands and Morocco, making him the first Saudi player to score a goal in the tournament.

 Mohammed Al Deayea is the key name in the record of Saudi Arabia's participation in the World Cup, as he is considered the player who has represented the national team in the finals with 10 matches distributed across the 1994, 1998 and 2002 editions. Sami Al Jaber, who participated in four consecutive editions (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006), stands out as one of the symbols of continuity in the history of the national team, combining experience and leadership, and participating in nine matches in the finals, which is the same number of matches as Hussein Abdul Ghani, who started his World Cup journey in France 1998, and continued his distinguished presence in the 2002 and 2006 editions.

 Team Saudi Arabia reached the finals of the next World Cup edition after a long journey before securing the qualification ticket. It finished as runner-up in its group during the second round of the Asian qualifiers, and then found itself in a strong group in the third round that included the national teams of Japan and Australia, who had secured the two direct qualification tickets. It continued its journey through the fourth round /playoffs/ in search of one of the two remaining tickets to reach the finals.

In the playoffs, team Saudi Arabia won its first match against Indonesia 3-2, before drawing 0-0 with Iraq, and surpassing it on goal difference to top the group and officially confirm its qualification for the World Cup. (QNA)