Arab football will witness a record participation in the 2026 World Cup, hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, after 8 Arab teams secured their presence in the finals for the first time in the history of the World Cup.
Arab football will be represented in the next edition by Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, in addition to Jordan, which is participating in its first World Cup, bringing the number of Arab teams that have participated in the tournament since its inception in 1930 in Uruguay to 10 teams.
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Arabs scored in the World Cup
The second edition of the World Cup, which was held in Italy in 1934, witnessed the first Arab appearance in the tournament, when the Egyptian team became the first Arab and African team to participate in the World Cup, but it exited the competition in the first round after losing 4-2 to Hungary.
During that match, Abdul Rahman Fawzi scored the first Arab double in the history of the World Cup.
The Arabs waited 36 years to return to the tournament, after an absence that lasted 6 editions, including a period in which the competition stopped between 1938 and 1950 due to World War II, before the Moroccan team returned to participate in the World Cup in Mexico in 1970, but it in turn was eliminated from the first round.
Tunisia writes the first Arab victory
In the World Cup in Argentina in 1978, the Tunisian national team achieved the first Arab victory in the history of the World Cup, after defeating the Mexican national team 3-1, but that was not enough to reach the knockout rounds.
The 1982 edition in Spain witnessed the participation of two Arab teams for the first time: Algeria and Kuwait.
The Gijon conspiracy deprives Algeria of glory
The Algerian national team recorded one of the biggest World Cup surprises in history, when it opened its participation in the Spanish World Cup in 1982 with a historic 2-1 victory over West Germany, the European champion at the time and one of the most prominent candidates to win the title.
Rabah Madjer and Lakhdar Belloumi took turns scoring Algeria’s goals in the match that caused a resounding shock in international football circles, after the “Desert Warriors” succeeded in overthrowing a team that included an elite group of the most prominent European football stars at that time.
The Algerian team was not satisfied with that achievement, but achieved a second victory in the group stage, beating Chile 3-2, becoming the first Arab and African team to win two matches in one edition of the World Cup.
Despite this, Algeria was eliminated from the tournament in the first round in one of the most controversial incidents in the history of the World Cup, after the famous match between West Germany and Austria, which was later known as the “Gijon Conspiracy.”
The match witnessed the Germans scoring an early goal in the tenth minute, before the two teams exchanged passes without real attacking attempts until the final whistle, in a result that served both sides and eliminated Algeria on goal difference, despite having 4 points, according to the points calculation system adopted at that time.
The match sparked widespread anger around the world, amid accusations that the two teams were deliberately colluding to ensure their qualification together to the second round at the expense of Algeria.
This incident later prompted the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to amend the system for holding matches in the final round of the group stage, so that the two decisive matches were held at the same time, to avoid a repeat of what happened in the 1982 World Cup.
As for the Kuwaiti team, it settled for a draw with Czechoslovakia, and lost to France and England, leaving the tournament in the first round.
Morocco makes history in 1986
The 1986 World Cup in Mexico witnessed a historic shift for Arab football, with the participation of 3 Arab teams for the first time, as the Moroccan team became the first Arab team to reach the second round of the World Cup after qualifying for the round of 16.
But Morocco’s journey ended with a 0-1 loss to West Germany, which continued its path to the final for the second time in a row at that time.
The same edition also witnessed the first appearance of the Iraqi team, which was eliminated in the first round, which was the same fate that the Algerian team faced after a less prominent participation compared to the 1982 edition.
Saudi Arabia shines in the 1994 World Cup
In the World Cup in Italy in 1990, the Egyptian and Emirati teams represented Arab football. The Egyptian team succeeded in drawing with the Netherlands and Ireland, but lost to England, leaving the tournament in the first round.
As for the UAE national team, it lost all three matches in its only participation in the World Cup so far.
Arab football returned to shine in the 1994 World Cup in the United States through the Saudi national team, which achieved a remarkable achievement by reaching the round of 16 in its first participation, after defeating Morocco and Belgium, despite its loss to the Netherlands.
The Saudi adventure stopped in the second round after a 3-1 loss to Sweden, while the Moroccan team exited early from the group stage.
Various participations between 1998 and 2010
The number of Arab teams participating in the World Cup in France in 1998 increased to 3 teams: Morocco, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia, but they were all eliminated from the first round.
The Moroccan team was closest to qualifying after its great 3-0 victory over Scotland and its draw with Norway, but its loss to Brazil prevented it from reaching the round of 16.
In the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, the Tunisian and Saudi teams participated, but they left the tournament early, and the Saudi team suffered a harsh 0-8 loss to Germany, which was the largest defeat for an Arab team in the history of the World Cup.
The same two teams appeared repeatedly in the World Cup in Germany in 2006, where they fell into one group, but they were eliminated from the tournament without achieving any victory.
In the South African edition in 2010, the Arab presence was limited to the Algerian team, which was eliminated from the first round with one point after drawing with England and losing to Slovenia and the United States, without scoring any goals.
Algeria shines in Brazil
The Algerian national team continued to represent the Arabs in the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, but this time it succeeded in reaching the round of 16 after a 4-2 victory over South Korea and a 1-1 draw with Russia, despite its loss to Belgium.
The Algerian team gave a strong performance against Germany in the second round, drawing 1-1 in regular time, before Germany decided the match 2-1 after extra time, on its way to winning the fourth world title in its history.
From honorable appearance to the golden square
The 2018 World Cup in Russia witnessed the participation of 4 Arab teams: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Tunisia, but all of them were eliminated in the first round, in a participation described as disappointing.
As for the Qatar World Cup in 2022, the first edition to be held on Arab soil, it witnessed a historic achievement for the Moroccan team, which became the first Arab and African team to reach the semi-finals.
The Moroccan national team, led by coach Walid Regragui, achieved remarkable results, after defeating Belgium and Canada and drawing with Croatia in the group stage, before beating Spain on penalties in the round of 16.
The Moroccan national team continued its surprises with a 1-0 victory over Portugal led by Cristiano Ronaldo in the quarter-finals, before losing 0-2 to France in the semi-finals, then 1-2 to Croatia in the third place match, ending the tournament in fourth place.
Immortal Arab victories
In addition to the Moroccan achievement, the Qatar World Cup witnessed notable Arab results, most notably the Saudi team’s 2-1 victory over Argentina, which later won the third world title in its history.
But the Saudi team failed to reach the second round after losing to Poland and Mexico.
The Tunisian team also achieved a historic 1-0 victory over France, and tied with Denmark, but lost to Australia to leave the tournament in the group stage.
As for the Qatari team, the fourth Arab representative in the tournament, it was eliminated from the first round after losing to Ecuador, Senegal, and the Netherlands.
Arab aspirations for the World Cup in 2026
Football fans in the Arab world hope that the Arab teams will achieve a new achievement in the 2026 World Cup beyond what the Moroccan team achieved in the last edition, despite the difficulty of the task, especially after the number of teams participating in the tournament increased to 48 teams.
