Despite a promising start for Arab nations at the FIFA World Cup 2026, recent results have taken a massive downturn, with Morocco’s victory over Scotland in the second round standing as the sole exception.
Tunisia has undoubtedly endured the worst campaign, suffering a 5-1 thrashing against Sweden followed by a 4-0 defeat to Japan, despite sacking manager Sabri Lamouchi and appointing Hervé Renard. Elsewhere, heavy defeats plagued other Arab representatives:
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Qatar lost 6-0 to Switzerland.
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Iraq fell 4-1 against Norway.
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Algeria was defeated 3-0 by Argentina.
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Saudi Arabia suffered the latest blowout, losing 4-0 to Spain.
The Shocking Own-Goal Statistics
Beyond the disappointing scorelines, a staggering statistic highlights a severe lack of defensive focus among Arab teams. The 2026 World Cup has already witnessed 8 own goals. To put this in perspective, the all-time tournament record for a single edition is 12 own goals, set at Russia 2018.
Astonishingly, Arab nations account for the lion’s share of these errors, scoring 6 own goals against themselves.
Arab Defenders Crumble Under Pressure
A total of six Arab teams have net-scored in their own goals so far, reflecting a critical crisis in defensive organization and composure under pressure:
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Egypt (The first was scored by right-back Mohamed Hany against Belgium)
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Qatar
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Iraq
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Jordan
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Tunisia
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Saudi Arabia (The latest was scored by Hassan Tambakti during the heavy loss to Spain)
