The Green is back to the World Cup

Cairo – 6 September 2017: Saudi Arabia’s national team secured their qualification to the 2018 World Cup in Russia after beating Japan 1-0 on Tuesday at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah. Known as The Green, the team returns to the World Cup competition after missing the last two editions.

Saudi Arabia started the game trying to score the first goal against Japan to move The Green team forward. Mohamed El Sahlawi failed to shine, ending the first half 0-0.

The second half started with a substitute for Saudi Arabia when Fahd El Mowalad took El Sahlawi’s place, creating the turning point in the game.

El Mowalad formed a successful partnership with Nawaf El Abed and Taisser Al Jassim that challenged Japan’s defense. This partnership led to Saudi Arabia winning a goal in the match by El Mowalad 63 minutes into the game.

Saudi Arabia previously qualified for the World Cup four times in a row between 1994 and 2006. The kingdom’s is the first Arab team to qualify for the World Cup in Russia.