{"id":5611,"date":"2026-06-29T08:04:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T08:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5611"},"modified":"2026-06-29T08:04:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T08:04:28","slug":"money-cant-buy-success-in-world-cup-for-gulf-nations-like-saudi-arabia-and-qatar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5611","title":{"rendered":"Money can’t buy success in World Cup for gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Saudi Arabia players react after the World Cup Group H soccer match between Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ashley Landis)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

ATLANTA \u2014 Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar that poured a fortune into soccer and infrastructure experienced unceremonious exits from the World Cup<\/a> , proving that big money doesn\u2019t guarantee success on the sport\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>

Read more Scheffler forces Monday playoff with Hovland at Travelers. Ryu wins KPMG Women\u2019s PGA<\/a><\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia is out at the earliest point. Again. Bottom of a group that included tiny Cape Verde<\/a> , the third-smallest nation ever to compete on this stage and into the knockouts for the first time.<\/p>\n

By signing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema as part of a spectacular recruitment drive<\/a> in recent years, Saudi Arabia has been a major disruptor of club soccer. But on the international stage it still has a long way to go eight years out from hosting the World Cup in 2034.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Saudi Arabian Football Federation president Yasser Al-Misehal resigned. Taking full responsibility for the failed World Cup campaign, he said that stepping aside will allow for a \u201cnew phase\u201d of leadership within Saudi football.<\/p>\n

Qatar, the host four years ago, is also on its way home after just three games, so too are the other gulf nations Iran<\/a> and Iraq. Compared to the success of African teams at this World Cup, with nine out of 10 advancing to the round of 32, gulf nations are struggling mightily to make their mark.<\/p>\n

A goalless draw against Cape Verde ended Saudi Arabia\u2019s hopes of advancing from the group phase for the first time since 1994.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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. So this gives rise to concern,\u201d Saudi coach Georgios Donis said.<\/p>\n

Qatar made history with its first point at a World Cup, scoring a dramatic late equalizer against Switzerland. But it was another disappointingly early exit after it was eliminated just two games into its home tournament<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that they show that at least we were able to compete in these kind of matches,\u201d coach Julen Lopetegui said.<\/p>\n

The appointment of Lopetegui \u2014 the former Spain and Real Madrid coach \u2014 is evidence of the type of investment Qatar has made to try to boost its performance on the global stage. Unlike Saudi Arabia, it has not embarked on such an audacious drive to attract aging stars from Europe to its domestic league.<\/p>\n

Despite a population of 3 million people and only around 300,000 citizens, it has managed to develop enough homegrown players to win back-to-back Asian Cups<\/a> in recent years and assert its dominance on a region that includes powers like Japan and South Korea.<\/p>\n

But it has not been able to translate those performances to the World Cup, and such an early exit marks a disappointment less than four years after hosting the tournament and spending billions of dollars to create eight state-of-the-art stadiums.<\/p>

Read more Ray outduels Sale in Cy Young matchup and Giants hold off slumping Braves 3-2 to take series<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cYou compare with other countries … for sure we know who we are,\u201d said Lopetegui. \u201cBut at the same time I think that this is one little country but with a big passion, a big investment … we have to improve every day and they did this.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look to the future being optimistic about this for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all about the future for Saudi Arabia, too, after winning the right to host the World Cup in 2034.<\/p>\n

It has been on a mission to wield influence in sports around the world, from buying Premier League Newcastle to launching LIV Golf and hosting world title boxing matches and Formula 1.<\/p>\n

The World Cup would be its standout achievement as it looks to move away from its heavy reliance on oil<\/a> and explore other revenue-generating sectors.<\/p>\n

It will want its national team to make a statement at its home tournament and while superstar signings like Ronaldo have raised the profile of its league, the hope is that they will also raise standards.<\/p>\n

Yet after pulling off one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history<\/a> by beating eventual champion Argentina four years ago, there was no standout moment this time \u2014 failing to advance beyond the group phase for the sixth time in a row.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we have these stars in the Arabian League, I think that the more competitive the competition, the better our players will be,\u201d said Donis. \u201cBut it\u2019s different when we\u2019re playing for the national team because in the national team, these experiences, there needs to be a certain mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Focus on development of homegrown talent is clear as 2034 approaches.<\/p>\n

Star signings from overseas have slowed and some big names, including Neymar, have departed. U.S. Soccer\u2019s sporting director Matt Crocker was lured away<\/a> to head up talent development in Saudi Arabia and youth investment is said to have doubled over the past three years.<\/p>\n

If Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been disruptors with their sudden mega spending, Iran has been competing in World Cups since 1978.<\/p>\n

It had to contend with difficulties regarding preparation and travel in the wake of war with the United States and only narrowly missed out on advancing as a best third place team after three draws. In seven appearances at the World Cup it has never gone beyond the groups.<\/p>\n

Likewise for Iraq in its two appearances 40 years apart.<\/p>\n

At a time when a supersized 48-team World Cup has opportunities for the likes of Cape Verde and Congo to make history, gulf nations are still waiting for their moment.<\/p>

Read more Scheffler makes clutch putt to force Monday playoff against Hovland in Travelers Championship<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

James Robson is at https:\/\/x.com\/jamesalanrobson<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spending billions of dollars and attracting some of soccer\u2019s biggest stars doesn\u2019t guarantee success at the World Cup<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nMoney can't buy success in World Cup for gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5611\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Money can't buy success in World Cup for gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spending billions of dollars and attracting some of soccer\u2019s biggest stars doesn\u2019t guarantee success at the World Cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5611\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-29T08:04:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1c55b645607678089dad46d1e361c44b-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5611#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5611\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Money can’t buy success in World Cup for gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-29T08:04:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5611\"},\"wordCount\":1007,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5611#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/339c8ee479a1589a1330630242f6ea49-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5611#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5611\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5611\",\"name\":\"Money can't buy success in World Cup for gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5611#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5611#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/339c8ee479a1589a1330630242f6ea49-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-29T08:04:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5611#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5611\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5611#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/339c8ee479a1589a1330630242f6ea49-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/339c8ee479a1589a1330630242f6ea49-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Saudi Arabia players react after the World Cup Group H soccer match between Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026. 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