MOSCOW: Saudi Arabia may have returned to Riyadh before the World Cup group stage has wrapped up, but Omar Bakhashwain, the Green Falcons team manager, believes the benefits of their participation will be felt for years to come.
After four years of planning, the country’s push for a place in the knock-out rounds was practically over before it could start; their 5-0 defeat to Russia on opening night making progress all but impossible. Yet improved results in their following two games against Uruguay and Egypt meant the squad flew home on Monday night with their heads held high.
Bakhashwain, the former Saudi Arabia striker now charged with overseeing the administrative side of the national team, said the general mood in the camp was positive after defeating Egypt 2-1 in their final Group A match. Had his side not been involved in the pressure-cooker environment of the opening game, he believes the World Cup could have played out very differently.
Watched by an estimated 250 million people around the world, opening night was preluded by the customary ceremony of music and culture. It was the first time an Asian side had been involved in the first game at a World Cup and the disruptions in preparation and atmosphere proved difficult to deal with.
“Overall I think we can all agree that we wanted to do better,” Bakhashwain told Arab News. “The dream was to go through because every team wants to finish as the top side in their group. But for a team of players who have never played a World Cup before and to play the opening game, for sure, there is something different.
“When you look at the three games, you see that in the opening game there were a lot of emotions. Everything was new, even the warm-up — you warm up for less time because you have to go outside and wait 40 minutes for the opening ceremony. These things were all new for us and came into play in that first game, but it was also a great experience.”
After the embarrassment of the first match, Saudi Arabia improved notably, demonstrating belief in coach Juan Antonio Pizzi’s methods and a desire to show the world that opening night was an anomaly. Monday’s victory was a first World Cup win in 24 years and such was the change in sentiment from disappointment to delight, Pizzi was handed a seven-month contract extension on Tuesday. He will lead the squad at the Asian Cup in January.
“Look at the team and the level of the team and it was always getting better,” Bakhashwain added. “I wish there had been a fourth group game for us so we could have gone through. The curve was always going up. We woke up after that first game and we did a good job. All three games we had more possession than the opposition, but obviously we have areas we must improve and the coach will look at that going forward.
“I know that this is the best performance at a World Cup since 1994, but I think we could have done better if it was not for the opening game. You have to accept surprises though, and that is one of the things we faced in that first game. This is football —
every day we learn something new. We had never played an opening game at a World Cup, but now that we have we will be better for it with more experience for the future.”
A schedule of friendly matches are in the pipeline before the Asian Cup, to be held in the UAE from Jan. 5 to Feb. 1. Saudi Arabia have been drawn in a group with Qatar, Lebanon and North Korea and are looking to win it for the first time since 1996.
“For sure, they will take away experience from this World Cup and any positives we leave with we can use in the next competition,” Bakhashwain concluded. “The negative things we just have to try to forget.”
Saudi Arabia return home ruing opening World Cup defeat to Russia
Saudi Arabia return home ruing opening World Cup defeat to Russia
- 'The dream was to go through,' says team manager
- But 5-0 defeat to Russia cost them dearly
Gooch, Detry and Uihlein share lead at halfway stage in Riyadh
- Smash GC lead the team competition at LIV Golf Riyadh with score of 30-under
RIYADH: Three shots separate the top 13 players after 36 holes here for the LIV Golf season opener.
The competition shifted up a gear for the second round of the Roshn Group LIV Golf Riyadh 2026, as the world’s best continued to battle under the lights, with cooler and windier conditions in round two.
With the event reaching its midway point, the leaderboard has begun to take shape, setting the stage for a high-stakes weekend in the Saudi capital.
Talor Gooch (Smash GC) has joined overnight leaders Thomas Detry (4Aces GC) and Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats GC) after Thursday night’s round, carding a consecutive five-under 67 to move to 10-under for the tournament with 36 holes to play.
Sitting one back from the leaders on nine-under after carding an under-four 68 in round two, Sebastian Munoz (Torque GC) reflected on his round: “It started a bit slow with a bogey on No. 2. I hit a bad bunker shot.
“Then after that I made some good birdies and kept it moving along. The wind came over, and I was able to kind of keep my focus and keep hitting good shots and keep giving myself good chances, and made some birdies on the back.
“Then I made some solid pars coming in. So really happy where the game is at.”
Meanwhile, first-round co-leader Detry remained firmly in the hunt, following up his opening 65 with a steady three-under 69 as he continues to embrace the atmosphere on course.
“Got off to a pretty shaky start. It was a bogey-free round yesterday, but today I felt a little uncomfortable early on. I managed to sort of settle the ship then with two birdies on holes No. 4 and 5, and then just fought hard.
The temperature sort of dropped after nine holes and the wind picked up, as well. I wasn’t really expecting that. It was sort of a bit of a fight out there, which was nice. I like it.”
“I was sort of out there taking care of my business, and suddenly I saw the leaderboard with the 4Aces GC popping up, and that sort of reminded me that I was also playing for the team, which is great.”
After shooting a five-under 67 for the second time in his two rounds Gooch commented: “Yeah, it was a really solid day. Really good ball control. The only bogey made was a three-putt from about 15 feet (4.5 meters).
“Made life really simple today. Hit a bumping of greens, gave myself some good looks and made a few. These are the type of days of golf that you wish you could have more of.”
On his first experience as captain of Smash GC, he said: “I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the year through the first two rounds. We’ve still got a lot of golf left, so we’ve got to go and continue to play great.
“But like I said, I couldn’t have predicted or hoped for a better start. It’s a great start, and hopefully we can continue going and just set the tone for a great year after this first week.”
Gooch’s Smash GC teammate Jason Kokrak fired a bogey-free eight-under to storm the leaderboard and get within two shots of the leaders. “It was really good. Got into a couple sticky situations but made a couple of nice par saves,” he said.
“Got hot for about a nine- or 10-hole stretch. Drove the ball very nicely. Way better than yesterday. So very pleased with how I played.”
Uihlein is eager to bring his fine form into the weekend after shooting a three-under 69 in round two. When asked about the potential of bringing home his first LIV Golf trophy, he said: “Yeah, it would be awesome.
“That’s what we want to do. We want to win individually. We want to win as a team. But winning individually? Yeah, that’s what the goal is, to win.
“Now that we get world ranking points, you can jump up in the OWGR (Official World Golf Ranking) and try to get in the majors. That’s definitely the goal.”
In the team standings, Smash GC (-30) took a commanding lead after those low scores from Kokrak and Gooch. Torque GC (-27) and 4Aces GC (-23) stay firmly in the race for the podium with all four player scores counting for all four rounds this season.
Round 2 – Individual Leaderboard:
1 – Talor Gooch (Smash GC) | R2 (-5) - After R2 (-10)
1 – Peter Uihlein (RangeGoats GC) | R2 (-3) - After R2 (-10)
1 – Thomas Detry (4Aces GC) | R2 (-3) - After R2 (-10)
Round 1 – Team Leaderboard:
1 – Smash GC (-30)
2 – Torque GC (-27)
3 – 4Aces GC (-23)
