Future imperfect for Saudi after Spain loss

Saudi Arabia got their campaign off to a promising start by holding the mighty Uruguay in their opening match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

When they started their quest, Saudi seemed to pick up where they had left in the last edition of the showpiece event in Qatar.

They had defeated the eventual winners Argentina in the preliminary stages of the Qatar World Cup.

Fast forward to 2026, after their first match against much-fancied Uruguay, Saudi looked set to go deep into the World Cup.

Uruguay are currently 16th in the FIFA rankings while Saudi sit at 61st spot. After their stellar show in the opening match, Saudi gave their fans a reason to cheer and also boosted their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs.

They failed to keep the momentum going against favourites Spain, who are 59 points better than Saudi in the FIFA rankings. Their listless performance against Spain has raised doubts about their future at the football extravaganza. Complacency seemed to have crept in after the opening match, which triggered their collapse against Spain. Saudi were not in contention throughout the match.

Spain were so dominant in the match that they had 639 passes as compared with Saudi’s 239. Spain had 77 percent possession, which means out of 90 minutes, Spain kept the ball for a whopping 69 minutes, leaving Saudi as mere spectators.

Spain had outclassed a lacklustre Saudi in the first 24 minutes of the game as they had gone up 3-0, courtesy goals from Lamine Yamal and Mikel Oyarzabal before Hassan Altambakti added one more through own goal to make it 4-0.

However, there is still a lot to play for Saudi despite their humiliating loss. Spain are on the top of their group with four points whereas Uruguay and Cape Verde are sitting on the second and the third spots respectively with two points each followed by Saudi at the bottom. But, Saudi have played their tough matches against Uruguay and Spain. They will face African minnows, who have put up a stellar show so far by holding Spain and Uruguay in their first two matches.

If Saudi beat Cape Verde and Uruguay lose to Spain, they will qualify for the second round with four points. But, anything less than victory will not be sufficient because of the goal difference. Saudi have four goals against them.

But, the loss against Spain is a wake-up call for the Saudis, who top the list of Arab nations for the qualification in the FIFA World Cup with a record seven-time appearance, tied with Morocco and Tunisia. Saudi cannot afford to sit on past laurels as the defeat has left their future in limbo at the soccer spectacle.