Explained: Why USMNT opponent Saudi Arabia is in the Concacaf Gold Cup
The U.S. men's national team will look to build on its opening win in this summer's Concacaf Gold Cup when it takes to the field against Saudi Arabia in Austin, Texas, today in the second match of the group stage.
The Green Falcons are the lone non-Concacaf team in the championship and will serve as a crucial test for Mauricio Pochettino's USMNT.
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But this isn't an unprecedented move: non-member guests have long been a part of Concacaf's tournament, and Saudi Arabia is now the eighth invitee to have debuted in the event.
But why is Saudi Arabia traveling nearly 9,000 miles to Q2 Stadium to compete in the tournament?
Here's all you need to know…
The Concacaf Gold Cup is an international competition for national teams in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. But the competition has a history of inviting guests from around the world into the mix.
Guests to the tournament date back to 1996, when Brazil became the first non-Concacaf nation to enter the fray. Brazil (1996 and 2003) and Colombia (2000) reached the final, but no invited team has yet won the tournament.
There was a 16-year period during which the competition was exclusive to regional teams, but guests resumed participation in 2021. Last year, Concacaf tweaked its guest team policy for the Gold Cup, with the hope that invitees would help expand the competition even more.
In 2018, Concacaf established a partnership with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) — which Saudi Arabia is a member of — setting up 'a framework to strengthen collaboration, encourage knowledge exchange and further develop football in their respective territories.' This was specifically intended to increase competitive opportunities between the confederations.
In 2021, Qatar became the AFC's first team to compete in the Gold Cup (and lost 1-0 to the USMNT in the semifinals; also in Austin, coincidentally). Last year, Saudi Arabia received an invitation to join the biannual Gold Cup this year and also in 2027.
Saudi Arabia is also a country with geopolitical pull in the world of sport, specifically soccer. It will host the men's World Cup in 2034, considered a controversial decision for various reasons. The country, through its Public Investment Fund (PIF), is also a visible sponsor of this summer's Club World Cup competition, which features Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal.
Last year, Saudi's PIF also signed a multi-year deal with Concacaf. That investment followed Aramco, one of the world's largest oil companies that is majority-owned by the Saudi government, becoming Concacaf's 'official energy partner' for all its teams and competitions.
A match against Saudi Arabia might not be as easy as it sounds. Just ask Argentina, whose only loss in their run to World Cup glory in 2022 was in its opening game against Saudi Arabia (1-2).
Historically, the Saudi Arabian national team is considered one of the most successful national teams in Asia, having won the AFC Asian Cup three times. It has reached a joint record of six Asian Cup finals and become a regular in the men's World Cups since debuting in 1994. It is currently ranked 58th in the world by FIFA.
Led by head coach Herve Renard, the Saudis will be without some of their biggest stars, much like the Americans, thanks to the Club World Cup taking place simultaneously this summer in the U.S..
Several Saudi players are competing for Al Hilal, most notably Salem Al Dawsari, long established as one of the stars of Saudi soccer.
While the U.S. enjoyed a dominant 5-0 win against Trinidad & Tobago in its opening match of the tournament, the team was up against a poorer version of its regional rival. It means this match on Thursday could serve as more of a litmus test.
All teams, minus Saudi Arabia, have qualified for this year's Gold Cup through the latest edition of the Concacaf Nations League or the 2025 Gold Cup prelims.
The tradition of inviting non-Concacaf guests into the competition dates to 1996, when the confederation invited then-defending world champion Brazil as its inaugural 'guest nation.' Brazil sent a U-23 squad, falling in the finals to Mexico. Brazil was a regular guest through 2005, even featuring a young Kaká in 2003.
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The guest list for the Gold Cup has also featured Colombia, Peru, South Korea, Ecuador, South Africa and Qatar. These teams have regularly made deep runs in the tournament, which may have eventually led to the decision by Concacaf to make the 2007 competition exclusively a regional one to provide local teams with more opportunity to compete as the tournament expanded.
That was true until 2021, when, after a 16-year hiatus, Concacaf resumed inviting guests into the competition. The first guest to receive that invite was Qatar in 2021, ahead of the nation hosting the men's World Cup in 2022. Qatar reached the semifinals of the Gold Cup that year and returned to the competition in 2023, exiting in the quarterfinals 4-0 to Panama.
As successful as guests may have been in the competition, the Gold Cup still has only ever produced three champions: Mexico (nine titles), the United States (seven) and Canada (one).
In the same way that this Gold Cup is serving as a crucial test for the three regional hosts the U.S., Canada and Mexico ahead of next year's men's World Cup, the competition offers Saudi Arabia a meaningful bout of international experience ahead of 2026, too.
The team also has plenty to prepare for as hosts of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup and the 2034 World Cup. The more exposure to diversity in competition, the better, especially considering Saudi Arabia has already signed on as guests for the Gold Cup in 2027 as well.
It also gives Saudi Arabia, the nation, exposure to the American market at a crucial time when nearly every federation, league and sports promoter is hoping to profit from the exploding commercialization of soccer in the U.S.
The two have a brief history, most recently playing in September 2022 in Spain as a final tuneup before the 2022 World Cup (0-0 draw). Six players who featured for the U.S. that day are part of the current squad. It was the first meeting between the teams in 23 years.
Overall, the U.S. is 3-2-2 against Saudi Arabia.
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