Sport | Football
Arab teams have mixed luck
Despite the fact that an Arab country first appeared in a World Cup final 72 years ago, teams from the region continue to falter on the big stage.
- By Sayed Ali, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 July 7, 2006
Dubai: Despite the fact that an Arab country first appeared in a World Cup final 72 years ago, teams from the region continue to falter on the big stage.
In fact all the Arab countries except Saudi Arabia have fallen in the first round. The Saudis advanced to the second round in the 1994 World Cup in the USA when they finished second in group F.
So the performance of the two Arab teams in the current Cup - Saudi Arabia and Tunisia - does not come as a surprise with both being knocked out at the group stage.
Egypt was the first Arab nation to play in the second World Cup Finals staged in Italy back in 1934.
There were no group matches at that time and all teams joined in a knock out format. Egypt played Hungary in front of 9,000 spectators at Giorgio Ascarelli stadium in Naples but made an early exit losing that match 4-2. However they did well in the first half which ended 2-2.
Abdul Rahman Fawzi earned the distinction of being the first Arab player to score in the World Cup in that match when he scored both goals for Egypt who were down 0-2.
The Arab countries didn't qualify for the next six World Cups. That run was broken when Morocco qualified for Mexico 1970. Playing in Group C, they lost to Germany and Peru but drew with Bulgaria.
The 1974 World Cup in Germany was the last time no Arab country played, as there has been at least one team every year since then.
In the 1978 World Cup held in Argentina, Tunisia became the first Arab country to post a victory. They defeated Mexico 3-1 and had a good chance to advance before they lost to Poland then drew with Germany.
The following eight Arab teams have qualified for the World Cup: Egypt (1934, 1990), Morocco (1970, 1998), Tunisia (1978, 1998, 2002, 2006), Algeria (1982, 1986), Kuwait (1982), Iraq (1986), UAE (1990) and Saudi Arabia (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006).
Together in all World Cup matches featuring Arab countries, six matches have been won, 12 have been drawn and the remaining 35 have ended in defeats.
The six wins include victories for Saudi Arabia in 1994 against fellow Arabs Morocco 2-1 and against Belgium 1-0 when Saeed Al Owairan netted the winner, drawing comparisons with Argentina great Diego Maradona.
Algeria won two matches in 1982 - a 2-1 win over West Germany and a 3-2 win over Chile. However, despite the two victories, Algeria failed to qualify for the second round after Austria beat Germany and the two teams qualified for the final 16.
Tunisia posted a win 28 years ago when they beat Mexico 3-1 but have since failed to win a single match in the 1998, 2002 or 2006 World Cups.
Morocco, who qualified three times, have won only one match, in France 1998, when they defeated Scotland 3-0.
The worst defeat of an Arab country was the 8-0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia by Germany in 2002.
The biggest win by an Arab country was the 3-0 triumph for Morocco over Scotland in the 1998 finals in France.
Sami Al Jaber of Saudi Arabia is the top Arab scorer in the World Cup finals with three goals, one each in 1994, 1998 and 2006. Al Jaber is the only Arab player who played in four successive finals from 1994 to 2006.
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