Saudi Arabia to make history at COSAFA Beach Soccer Championship
Saudi Arabia will become the first ever non-African nation to compete in a COSAFA event when they contest the region’s Beach Soccer Championship in Durban from March 17-23.
The team will being some Middle East flair as they look to grow the sport in the country and earn a first ever FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification in the Seychelles in 2025.
They are former champions of the Arab Beach Soccer Cup in 2010, though there have only been four editions of the tournament played, the last in 2023.
In the latest edition, they topped their pool with wins over Mauritania (7-3) and Morocco (4-3), who will also be in Durban, to go with a 4-7 defeat to Lebanon. The Saudis went out in the quarterfinals after a 3-5 defeat to Palestine.
The team has been preparing for the COSAFA event with a camp in the city of Jazan under the eye of Brazilian Goqa Zulukovic.
They recently also returned from the Oman International Friendly Beach Soccer Championship, where they finished third. Before that, they also lost a friendly against Italy 3-5.
According to Beach Soccer Worldwide, the team is ranked number 23 in the world, the second highest of the teams competing in Durban after Morocco (15).
Players called into camp ahead of COSAFA Beach Soccer Championship: Hossam Kaman, Ahmed Al-Hamami, Khaled Wahib, Mubarak Al-Dosari, Ramzi Dakman, Muhammad Al-Ajmi, Fahd Al-Dosari, Walid Al-Youbi, Omar Garamesh, Bilal Bouda, Turki Al-Sabet, Islam Siraj, Ali Al-Saffar, Khaled Al-Mawlid, Nayef Yakel, and Salman Al-Rashidi. Hamad Al-Dhamri, Abdulaziz Al-Sharari, Batel Al-Ruwaili, and Ahmed Al-Zahrani.