Football - Team Saudi Arabia

Nickname
The Green Falcons

General
Saudi Arabia won consecutive medals at the Asian Games in 1982 and 1986. At the 1982 Games the team were due to contest the third place play-off. However, their opponents, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, received a two-year suspension for assaulting match officials at the end of their semifinal. As a result, Saudi Arabia were given a default 2-0 victory and the bronze medal.

In 1986 the team finished on the podium in a more straightforward manner. After topping their group, Saudi Arabia won on penalties in both their quarterfinal and semifinal matches. In the final they faced hosts the Republic of Korea, and were forced to settle for the silver medal after losing 2-0. The Saudi team have been eliminated at the quarterfinal stage in each of their four subsequent appearances at the Asian Games, including by Iraq in 2014 and by Japan in 2018.

The Saudis arrive in Hangzhou as AFC U23 Asian Cup champions, having triumphed at the 2022 edition of the tournament. They did not concede a single goal in six matches that culminated in a 2-0 win over hosts Uzbekistan in the final. The Saudi team had previously finished as runners-up at the competition in 2020 and 2013.

In three Olympic Games appearances [1984, 1996, and 2020], Saudi Arabia have finished bottom of their group on each occasion and have lost all of their matches.