Early history (1951–1955) The idea of a Saudi national team first came about in 1951, when a Saudi XI team consisting of players from
Al-Wehda and
Al-Ahli took part in a friendly game against the
Egyptian Ministry of Health on 27 June at the Al-Saban Stadium in
Jeddah. The following day, the Egyptians took on a Saudi team made up of players from
Al-Ittihad and
Al-Hilal in Al-Bahri in the same city. On 2 August, His Royal Highness Prince
Abdullah Al-Faisal organized a third friendly with the Egyptian team against Saudi Arabia with players from
Al-Wehda, and
Al-Ahli. By then, the idea of a national select team to represent the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was already in full flow, and in 1953 the first-ever Saudi team traveled to play friendly matches abroad. The same year, a Saudi team traveled to
Damascus to play friendly matches as part of then-Crown Prince
Saud bin Abdulaziz's visit to the country in April. In 1957, the Saudi national team took part in their first international tournament at the
2nd Pan-Arab Games in
Beirut, where King Saud was invited to attend the opening ceremony and the inauguration of the
Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium with Lebanese President
Camille Chamoun on 18 October. Abdulmajeed Kayal scored for the Saudis while
Levon Altonian netted for the home side.
Debuting successes and subsequent declines (1956–2016) Though their football federation was established in 1956, the Saudi Arabia national team did not participate in a tournament until they qualified for the
AFC Asian Cup in
1984, becoming Asian champions for the first time. Since then, they reached the next four consecutive Asian Cup finals, winning two of them (
1988 and
1996). They have qualified for every AFC Asian Cup since, reaching the final in the
2007 edition. . Saudi Arabia qualified for their first
FIFA World Cup in
1994 under the leadership of Argentine manager
Jorge Solari and talents like
Saeed Al-Owairan and
Sami Al-Jaber, reinforced by national veteran
Majed Abdullah as team captain. Wins against
Belgium and
Morocco in the group stage led to a match-up against Sweden in the round of 16, a 3–1 loss. Saudi Arabia qualified for the next three FIFA World Cups, but failed to win a match in any of them; in the
1998 FIFA World Cup, the team suffered an agonizing group stage elimination for the first time after only a draw was achieved, which occurred against
South Africa. The team placed last in the
2002 FIFA World Cup without scoring a goal, while conceding 12, including eight against
Germany, the most humiliating FIFA World Cup performance ever by an Asian team since
1954, and the team saw no improvement in the
2006 FIFA World Cup after winning only a single point against Arab rival
Tunisia. After the
2007 AFC Asian Cup, Saudi Arabia suffered even further setbacks. The Saudis failed to qualify for the
2010 FIFA World Cup in agonizing
playoffs that saw them again give up their 2–1 lead to a 2–2 draw to neighbor
Bahrain. In the
2011 AFC Asian Cup, the Saudis went on to have their worst-ever Asian Cup performance in history, losing all three games in a shocking style to
Syria,
Jordan and
Japan. Later on, Saudi Arabia failed to qualify for the
2014 FIFA World Cup, finishing behind
Australia and
Oman in the
third round. This embarrassing record kept following the Saudis into the
2015 AFC Asian Cup, as the Saudis suffered another group stage exit, this time losing to
China and
Uzbekistan. They only won against
North Korea.
Revival (2017–present) Saudi Arabia secured qualification for the
2018 FIFA World Cup, their first in 12 years, ahead of Australia. In the first match of
Group A and the tournament, Saudi Arabia were crushed by hosts
Russia 5–0, making this the second largest victory of any host. Saudi Arabia then lost 1–0 to a
Luis Suárez goal that put
Uruguay as the eventual group winners. Although they were already eliminated, Saudi Arabia managed to win their final group stage match against
Red Sea neighbours
Egypt 2–1, coming back from behind after a
Mohamed Salah goal. After the 2018 World Cup, Saudi Arabia participated in the
2019 AFC Asian Cup, held in the
United Arab Emirates; the team finished second in the group stage, after falling to
Qatar in the final game, leading to a showdown against
Japan in the round of 16. The Saudis dominated the whole game, but ultimately lost 1–0 due to poor finishing. in the
2018 World Cup. On 15 October 2019, Saudi Arabia played its first-ever game with
Palestine in the
West Bank; the game marked a change in policy for Saudi Arabia, which has previously played matches against the Palestinian team in third-party countries. The visit was condemned by some Palestinian activists, who considered the game as a start of normalizing the relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, but it was viewed by the
Palestinian National Authority as a support for their sovereignty over the West Bank. The game ended in a scoreless draw. Saudi Arabia qualified for the
2022 FIFA World Cup in
Qatar, the first to be held in the Middle East, by topping their qualifying group and were drawn against
Argentina,
Poland and
Mexico. In their opening game, they upset
Argentina 2–1 within the first five minutes of the second half with goals from
Saleh Al-Shehri and
Salem Al-Dawsari, ending an Argentine unbeaten streak of 36 games dating back to 2019. The Saudi King declared a holiday after the win and Saudi fans celebrated with mocking words against
Lionel Messi and the Argentine team. In the next match against Poland,
Piotr Zieliński opened proceedings with a goal in the 39th minute and
Robert Lewandowski scored the second goal, while
Salem Al-Dawsari's penalty kick was saved by Polish goalkeeper
Wojciech Szczęsny as Saudi Arabia lost 2–0. This required a win against
Mexico to advance to the round of 16 regardless of the Argentina–Poland result. Fielding three strikers in front, Saudi Arabia however were unable to exert any domination over the Mexican side, conceding two early second half goals by
Henry Martín and
Luis Chávez, the second being a thunderous midfield free kick; a late consolation goal by Salem Al-Dawsari was not enough as Saudi Arabia fell 2–1 and were eliminated after finishing last in
Group C. 2–1. Saudi Arabia, under new manager
Roberto Mancini, entered the
2023 AFC Asian Cup in
Group F with
Oman,
Kyrgyzstan and
Thailand. The Saudis started their campaign with a 2–1 comeback win over neighbour Oman, where
Abdulrahman Ghareeb scored from a solo before a late
Ali Al-Bulaihi's header sealed the dramatic win. They then achieved a 2–0 win over Kyrgyzstan, where the Saudis were dominant from beginning to end against a nine-man squad. The Saudis rested most of their key players as they held Thailand in a goalless draw to advance and top the group, putting the Saudis against
South Korea in the last sixteen. Against South Korea,
Abdullah Radif opened the scoring in the first minute of the second half, but after conceding a
Cho Gue-sung header in the ninth minute of second-half stoppage time, the game was determined by a penalty shootout after 30 minutes of extra time, where the Saudis lost 4–2 on penalties and were eliminated. Saudi Arabia struggled in their
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. After the
second round, Saudi Arabia's
third round proved troublesome; excluding China as the only team Saudi Arabia grabbed full six points, they obtained only one point against
Indonesia along with a 2–0 home loss to Japan, the first time ever Saudi Arabia lost to the Japanese at home. Roberto Mancini was then sacked and Hervé Renard was recalled to salvage Saudi Arabia's campaign, but Saudi Arabia still failed to finish second place behind Australia in the end, resulting in their appearance in the
fourth round. Saudi Arabia participated in their first
CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament in
2025, reaching the quarter-finals where they lost 2–0 to
Mexico. They then qualified for the
2026 FIFA World Cup in October 2025, following their 3–2 fourth-round win over Indonesia and a goalless draw to Iraq that allowed Saudi Arabia to stay on top by superior goals scored; this is their third consecutive World Cup appearance and seventh overall. ==Kits and crests==