Saudi Arabia will kick off their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign when they welcome Pakistan to Abdullah Al Dabil Stadium on Thursday.
As for the visitors, they are competing in the second stage of qualifying after beating Cambodia in the first-round playoff.
Match preview
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While Saudi Arabia are set to host the 2030 World Cup, their current focus will be on securing qualification for the 2026 tournament in USA, Canada and Mexico.
After qualifying for the 2018 and 2022 tournament, the Green Falcons will fancy their chances of qualifying for a third consecutive World Cup.
To reach the third stage of the qualifying process, Saudi Arabia need to finish in the top two of a group that contains Jordan, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
Although they will be favourites to top the group, they are currently experiencing a poor run of form, having failed to win any of their last eight matches (D1, L7).
With four of those games taking place under Roberto Mancini, the former Italy boss is still looking to claim his first victory as Saudi Arabia head coach.
Meanwhile, Pakistan are competing in the second round after holding their nerve to beat Cambodia 1-0 over two legs.
After holding Camodia to a 0-0 draw in the away leg, Pakistan seemed to be on their way to playing out another goalless affair in the reverse fixture until Harun Hamid scored the decisive goal to help his country progress to the next stage.
With the campaign doubling up as qualifying for the World Cup and 2027 Asia Cup, Pakistan are looking to reach both tournaments for the first time in their history.
While a failure to secure a top-two place would quash their World Cup hopes, it would not bring an immediate end to their Asia Cup dream because they would drop into the third qualifying round.
Having won just one of their last 14 matches (D1, L12), the visitors know that Thursday's meeting with Saudi Arabia will prove to be a difficult challenge.
Team News
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Mancini's squad for the upcoming qualifiers against Pakistan and Jordan is made up entirely of players who ply their trade in the Saudi Pro League.
Mohammed Al-Owais will feature in goal for the hosts, while his Al-Hilal teammates Hassan Tambakti and Ali Al-Bulayhi could appear in central defence.
Saleh Al-Shehri, who has scored 11 international goals, is expected to start Thursday's encounter, and he may line up alongside Salem Al-Dawsari and Abdulrahman Ghareeb in a front three.
As for Pakistan, the majority of their squad compete in their homeland, but there are a handful of players who play in Europe.
Yousuf Butt, Abdullah Iqbal and Abdul Arshad play in Denmark, while Rahis Nabi is currently competing in the Cypriot second division for Digenis Akritas Morphou.
Otis Khan is a forward for League Two side Grimsby Town, and he is joined in the squad by uncapped Imran Kayani, who is playing in the seventh tier of English football for Whitehawk.
Saudi Arabia possible starting lineup:
Al-Owais; Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Al-Bulayhi, Al-Shahrani; Al-Ghamdi, N. Al-Dawsari, Hazazi; Ghareeb, S. Al-Dawsari, Al-Shehri
Pakistan possible starting lineup:
Butt; Hayat, M. Khan, Iqbal, Shah; Ullah, Ghazi, Uzair, Nabi, Dost; Arshad
We say: Saudi Arabia 3-0 Pakistan
Although Saudi Arabia are winless in six matches, they are ranked 136 places higher than Pakistan, and as a result, we think that their extra quality will help them claim a comfortable victory on Thursday.
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