The 2022 ghost is still haunting every conversation

We are seventy-two hours away from the 2026 World Cup kickoff, and the discourse around the Saudi Arabian national team is officially off the rails. It’s been nearly four years since they turned the footballing world upside down in Qatar, beating Argentina 2-1 in a result that effectively broke sports betting sites across the globe.

That day in Lusail was pure, unadulterated chaos. Salem Al-Dawsari’s curler into the top corner will sit in the highlight reels of history forever. But let’s be honest: are we expecting that to happen again, or was it just a glorious, one-off glitch in the simulation?

The Saudi League shift isn't just about big names

The influx of global superstars into the Saudi Pro League has been the talk of every pub crawl since 2023. You have household names taking massive bags of cash to play in Riyadh and Jeddah, but the real question is what that does to the homegrown talent. When you share a training pitch with icons of the game, you either sharpen your steel or you get completely buried on the bench.

Reports suggest that the local core of the Arabian Falcons has had to adapt to a training regime that is significantly more intense than anything they saw a decade ago. It is high-stakes sink or swim. If they start their campaign with the same intensity they showed against Argentina, they might just terrorize their group. If they get caught chasing shadows, though, it’s going to be a long, ugly summer.

The pressure valve is set to explode

This team doesn't have the luxury of flying under the radar anymore. They are the side that toppled the eventual champions, and that makes them a target for every opponent from hour one. The buildup to this tournament has been turbulent, to put it mildly. There is an expectation that the local players, after years of playing alongside world-class talent, should theoretically be pushing for deeper knockout stages.

That is a massive assumption. Getting dismantled 4-0 by Spain like we saw with the England women’s side is the kind of reality check that happens when the hype train leaves the station without the driver. The Saudi players haven't had to deal with this level of scrutiny while carrying the flag for a league that has spent more on players than some countries spend on road maintenance.

I'm not saying they're going to win the whole thing, but keep your eyes on the transition play. If they aren't clinical on the break, the heavy investment in overseas talent looks less like a strategic masterstroke and more like a vanity project. We’ll know exactly how much the local squad has actually evolved once they step onto the grass on Thursday. Watching Divock Origi walk away was the end of a wild era, but seeing if this Saudi squad can actually compete with the elite? That might be the most bizarre fever dream of this entire tournament.