Despite the concerns about the choice of host ahead of the 2022 World Cup, the event was a massive win for Qatar. Though the home team finished bottom of Group A with three losses, the tournament, thanks partly to a brilliant final and the image of Lionel Messi with the World Cup, was highly memorable. So, Qatar’s broader objectives, it is safe to say, were met.
While Qatar may have pulled off a coup as hosts, on the pitch Saudi Arabia pulled off the biggest coup—beating Argentina in their opener. Four years on, both Gulf nations will travel to North America without truly significant progress on the pitch—the huge sums of money poured into football is slowly making a mark on the football setups of the two countries, but have not really transformed them yet.
Saudi Arabia
The 2-1 win over Argentina—one of the great upsets in World Cup history—set a benchmark that Saudi Arabia have struggled to live up to since. Hervé Renard, the coach who masterminded that result, returned for a second spell in 2024. But, he was sacked in April, less than two months before the tournament, after Saudi Arabia lost 4-0 to Egypt and then 2-1 to Serbia in consecutive March friendlies. His replacement is Georgios Donis, a Greek coach who has spent recent years managing in the Saudi Pro League. Donis knows the players, but he has never managed a national team at a World Cup.
Saudi Arabia's form going into the tournament is difficult to read. On the basis of the March results, the group—Spain, Uruguay, Cape Verde—seems steep. Spain are one of the favourites and are ranked second. Uruguay (rank 17) are experienced, organised and possess genuine world-class talent in the likes of Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo and Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde. Cape Verde (rank 69), are making their debut but have been one of Africa's most improved sides. Saudi Arabia are ranked 61, 12 places below where they finished the 2022 World Cup. Their best hope is to beat the African side and play for draws against the two bigger teams. That could get them a third-place finish and by virtue of the expanded 48-team format, where eight of the 12 third-placed teams advance, a path to the next round. But, as things stand, beating even Cape Verde will be easier said than done. Saudi Arabia open against Uruguay in Miami on June 15.
Salem Al-Dawsari, who scored the winner against Argentina, remains the team’s most dangerous attacker and now captains them, now aged 34. Whether this squad can give the World Cup another shock is the question Saudi football is asking itself and hoping Donis can answer.
Qatar
As hosts, they became the first home nation to be eliminated in the group stage. This time, they actually had to qualify, for the first time. They did, but only just, scraping through the fourth round of Asian qualifying with a 2-1 win over the UAE in the last match. Coach Julen Lopetegui, who took charge last May, is an experienced hand. He had led Spain to the 2018 World Cup, but was dismissed two days before the tournament for accepting the Real Madrid job. So, he knows how to prepare a side for a major tournament, despite not having managed one. Whether this squad is capable of capitalising on what he can bring to the preparation is less certain.
also read
Qatar's top goalscoring threat is Sudan-born Almoez Ali, 29, his country's all-time leading scorer. Their group—Canada, Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina—looks manageable on paper, but Qatar would have to work hard to get even a draw. They open against Switzerland in Santa Clara on June 13, then face Canada in Vancouver on June 18, before closing against Bosnia in Seattle on June 24.
Switzerland (rank 19) and Canada (30) are both solid, experienced sides. Bosnia (65) are ranked lower than Qatar (55), but are a dangerous side—as Italy found out in the European qualification playoffs. But Qatar are not without hope. The 2019 and 2023 Asian Cup winners have a settled, technically capable squad that has grown together over years. If Lopetegui can instil the defensive organisation that was conspicuously absent in 2022, and if Ali finds form, Qatar could yet make the group stage feel like a genuine contest rather than a formality. That, in itself, would count as progress.
