Money Can't Buy World Cup Success for Gulf Nations Like Saudi Arabia and Qatar

Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar have spent huge amounts of money on soccer. They built fancy stadiums, hired famous coaches, and signed some of the biggest soccer stars in the world. But at this year's World Cup, all of that spending did not help them win. Both countries were sent home after the group stage, showing that money alone cannot guarantee success.

Saudi Arabia had one of the worst showings of any team at the tournament. The team finished at the bottom of its group, behind even Cape Verde — a tiny island nation that had never reached the knockout round before. Saudi Arabia failed to advance past the group stage for the sixth time in a row. Its last run in the knockout round was back in 1994. A 0–0 draw against Cape Verde ended the team's hopes for good.

Saudi Arabia's coach, Georgios Donis, was honest about what went wrong. 'It was not what we wanted because when playing in such a match against a team that is more or less the same level as us, our performance was not good,' he said. The team has a strong motivation to improve, though — Saudi Arabia is set to host the World Cup in 2034. That gives the national team about eight years to become much more competitive.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia signed some of the world's biggest soccer stars. Players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, and Karim Benzema all moved to play in the Saudi league. The hope was that having world-class players nearby would raise the level of local talent. But at the World Cup, only homegrown players can represent a country, and Saudi Arabia's national team still has a long way to go.

Qatar also went home early, but the team did have one bright moment. Qatar scored a last-minute goal to earn a tie against Switzerland, picking up its very first point ever at a World Cup. That was a small but meaningful achievement for a country that was eliminated after just two games when it hosted the tournament in 2022. 'I think they show that at least we were able to compete in these kind of matches,' said Qatar's coach, Julen Lopetegui.

Lopetegui is a well-known coach who once led the Spanish national team and the famous club Real Madrid. Qatar hiring him shows just how serious the country is about improving. Unlike Saudi Arabia, Qatar has not tried to fill its league with aging foreign stars. Instead, it has focused on growing its own players from within, and that effort has led to back-to-back Asian Cup championships in recent years.

Still, winning at the Asian level is very different from winning at the World Cup. Qatar has a small population of about 3 million people, with only around 300,000 actual citizens. Building a strong national team from such a small group is a serious challenge. The country spent billions of dollars building eight brand-new stadiums for the 2022 World Cup, but big spending has not yet translated into World Cup success.

The other Gulf nations — Iran and Iraq — also went home early. Iran came very close to advancing, drawing all three of its games and barely missing out on moving forward. Iran has played in seven World Cups since 1978 but has never gotten past the group stage. Iraq, playing in only its second World Cup ever, also exited without a single win.

By contrast, African teams had a great tournament, with nine out of ten advancing to the round of 32. That success made the Gulf nations' struggles look even more stark. At a World Cup that now features 48 teams — giving chances to smaller nations like Cape Verde and Congo — Gulf nations are still searching for their breakthrough moment.

Saudi Arabia is taking steps to improve for the future. The country hired Matt Crocker, a top youth development expert from U.S. Soccer, to help build the next generation of players. Youth investment is said to have doubled over the past three years. With the 2034 World Cup set to be played on Saudi soil, the pressure and the motivation to finally make a mark on the sport's biggest stage has never been greater.