Group A is hardly the most intimidating of this year's World Cup but despite being drawn alongside Russia, Uruguay and Egypt, Saudi Arabia are available at some of the biggest prices of any competitor at this summers' tournament.
Qualification for the 2018 World Cup
Japan topped Group B of Asian qualifying while the Saudi side were just a point behind them.
Home advantage was certainly a big factor in their tally of 19 points. The Green Falcons won four of their five matches, drawing the other.
Nawaf Al Abid finished as joint top scorer in the final group with five goals. However, four of those came from the penalty spot. The 28-year-old who plys his trade with league leaders Al Hilal in his native country, has yet to find the back of the net in 11 appearances this term.
Despite their success, the managerial situation has changed repeatedly in recent months. Bert van Marwijk was in charge during much of the qualification campaign before failing to agree a new contract with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. Edgardo Bauza took over but was in the post for just a few weeks before Pizzi took over in November 2017.
dabblebetWorld Cup History
This will be Saudi Arabia's fifth World Cup finals appearance but their first since 2006.
They've failed to make it out of the group stage in all but one those attempts, the exception came in USA 1994 when losing out to Sweden 3-1 in the round of 16.
2018 World Cup Squad
| GK | DEF | MID | ST |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammed Al Owais | Mansoor Al Harbi | Abdullah Al Khaibari | Mohammad Al Sahlawi |
| Yasser Al Mosailem | Yasser Al Shahrani | Abdulmalek Al Khaibri | Muhannad Assiri |
| Abdullah Al Mayouf | Mohammed Al Breik | Abdullah Otayf | |
| Motaz Hawsawi | Taiseer Al Jassim | ||
| Osama Hawsawi | Houssain Al Mogahwi | ||
| Omar Hawsawi | Salman Al Faraj | ||
| Ali Al Bulaihi | Mohamed Kanno | ||
| Hattan Bahebri | |||
| Salem Al Dawsari | |||
| Yahya Al Shehri | |||
| Fahad Al Muwallad |
Latest World Cup odds
| Market | Price |
|---|---|
| To win the World Cup | 1000/1 (1001.0) |
| To make the World Cup final | 250/1 (251.0) |
| To win Group A | 33/1 (34.0) |
| To qualify from Group A | 15/2 (8.50) |
| To be top Asian country | 8/1 (9.0) |
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