Expect World Cup congestion, amid Qatar’s “challenging” four-game daily schedule, say organizers

Herve Renard, coach of the national team of Saudi Arabia, has named the 32-man squad for the third and final stages of the country’s preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Green Falcons will from Oct. 17 set up a training camp in Abu Dhabi, during which they will take part in five friendly fixtures ahead of the start of the tournament on Nov. 20.

These will include matches against North Macedonia at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Sports City Stadium on Oct. 22; Albania at Al-Nahyan Stadium on Oct. 26; Honduras at Al-Nahyan Stadium on Oct. 30; Iceland at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium on Nov. 6; and, finally, Panama at Zayed Sports City Stadium on Nov. 10, after which the final 26-man official squad will fly out to Doha.

Saudi Arabia’s first match at the World Cup is against Argentina on Nov. 22 at Lusail Iconic Stadium, and they will follow that up by taking on Poland at Education City Stadium on Nov. 26 before completing their Group C schedule with a clash against Mexico on Nov. 30.

The provisional 32-player World Cup squad is comprised of the following: Mohammed Al-Owais, Fawaz Al-Qarni, Mohammed Al-Yami, Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Yasser Al-Shahrani, Ali Al-Bulaihi, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Abdullah Madu, Hassan Tambakti, Sultan Al-Ghannam, Ahmed Bamasoud, Saud Abdulhamid, Mohammed Al-Breik, Riyadh Sharahili, Ali Al-Hassan, Mohammad Kanoo, Abdulelah Al-Malki, Salman Al-Faraj, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Abdullah Otayf, Sami Al-Najei, Salem Al-Dawsari, Abdulrahman Al-Abboud, Fahad Al-Muwallad, Nawaf Al-Abed, Hattan Bahbri, Ayman Yahya, Haitham Asiri, Abdullah Radeef, Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Saleh Al-Shehri, Firas Al-Buraikan.

The squad will convene next Monday after the eighth round of the Roshn Saudi League before departing King Khalid International Airport for Abu Dhabi International Airport.