The Saudi Arabian national team returns to the World Cup after missing out on the last two series of the tournament and will have the added pressure of playing the opening game against the host on the 14th of June. Before this hiatus, the Green Falcons qualified for four World Cups in a row between 1994 and 2006. The Asian giants went back to the drawing board and are confident that they can positively present a new standard of Saudi Arabian football. The federation is determined not to replicate performances that mirror the 8-0 embarrassment to host Germany in 2002. Since qualifying, the team dismissed Van Marwijk, the Dutch coach responsible for their qualification, hired Argentinian Edgardo Bauza, fired Bauza after some bad results and finally settled on Juan Antonio Pizzi. Pizzi who failed to qualify Chile for the World Cup was responsible for Chile's Confederation Cup final run and their success in the Copa América Centenario. The constant movement of staff shows how anxious the entire country is about impressing in Russia. 

Saudi Arabian clubs are traditionally superpowers of Asian football, clubs like Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli have all represented the country well over the years in regional competition. Since forever, the national side has been made up of solely players from these local clubs and as football around the world has evolved it has become increasingly difficult for the Saudis to compete at the international stage with solely local-based players. The federation again fueled by their determination to impress in Russia signed a groundbreaking deal with La Liga, Spain's governing body for professional football. This deal facilitated the movement of nine national team players to teams of the top two tiers of Spanish football during the last January transfer window. 

Villarreal, Levante, Real Valladolid, Rayo Vallecano, Numancia, Sporting Gijon all signed Saudi Arabian players on loan. The hope is that these players will return to the national team as better players after training and playing in the high-level environment that is Spanish professional football. Only their performances at the World Cup will tell if this partnership was indeed successful at least in the short term. Fahad Al-Muwallad made a couple of appearances for Levante while Salem Al Dawsari made his La Liga debut on the final game of the season against Real Madrid. 

Head Coach: Juan Antonio Pizzi

Population: 33 million

Appearances:5

Best: Round of 16(1994)

How they Qualified: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia automatically qualified after finishing second in Group B of the final round of World Cup qualifying in Asia. Their home form was enough to get them over the line. Save for a respectable 2-2 draw with Australia the Saudi won every single one their home encounters. This included a final day victory over an already qualified Japan to book their place in Russia. 

Star Players: Fahad Al-Muwallad(Levante), Nawaf Al-Abed(Al Hilal),Mohammad Al-Sahlawi(Al Nassr), Salem Al-Dawsari(Villarreal), Yasser Al-Shahrani(Al Hilal)

Wildcard:Yehya Al-Shehri-The player with over 50 caps for his national team was probably the most disappointing of all the players who left for Spain. Assigned to Leganés, a team with virtually nothing to play for the midfielder failed to make his competitive debut for the club and left before season's end to join up with the National Team training camp. Saudi Arabia has assembled early and has played a series of friendlies in early preparation for Russia. If Yehya uses this camp wisely he can show what he is really made of. A group of Russia, Egypt and Uruguay is hardly the group of death but solid performances from Yehya and his team will be needed if they are to make it out.

Legend:Sami Al-Jaber