The Qatar World Cup will be the sixth that Saudi Arabia have competed in, but their overall record at the tournament makes for painful reading.
With the exception of their debut in 1994, they have consistently crashed out at the group stage while suffering a number of heavy defeats.
The worst came in their opening game against Germany in 2002, which ended in an 8-0 thrashing by Rudi Voller’s ruthless side.
The match was most notable for Miroslav Klose’s hat-trick of headers, the first of his 16 goals in four tournaments, making him the World Cup’s all-time record goalscorer.
Saudi Arabian supporters understandably have much happier memories of USA ’94, where they best Morocco and Belgium to advance to the knockout rounds.
Their victory against Belgium is famous for Saeed Al-Owairan’s incredible solo goal, which is widely considered to be one of the greatest ever scored at a World Cup.
Collecting the ball deep in his own half, the midfielder immediately turned and started driving up the pitch at speed.
On a lung-bursting 70-yard run, he evaded one challenge, held off another, skipped past a third and then a fourth, before finishing high into the roof of the net for the only goal of the game.
Although Saudi Arabia were beaten 3-1 by Sweden in the round of 16, that moment of individual brilliance from Al-Owairan has endured.
It took another 24 years for the Green Falcons to win their next World Cup game and it will be tough to add to their tally after being drawn to face Argentina, Poland and Mexico.
Winger Salem Al-Dawsari is one of their biggest attacking threats and will also be responsible for taking penalties.
The 31-year-old has been successful with three of his five efforts, most recently against Australia in March.
