Art & Culture

How Every Arab Team Performed at the 2026 FIFA World Cup

BYYassine Hariss

July 17, 2026

And just like that, the 2026 FIFA World Cup is almost over. In just a few days, the curtain will fall on a tournament that delivered no shortage of surprises, upsets, and moments no one saw coming. But the football often had to compete with the headlines off the pitch. From players, journalists, staff members, and referees struggling to secure the visas needed to enter the United States to a U.S. player having a red card overturned following political intervention, controversy was never too far away. Yet if controversy dominated the news cycle, Arab teams stole plenty of the spotlight. Against the odds, they delivered some of the World Cup’s biggest surprises, proving once again that football’s traditional hierarchy is becoming harder to defend.

Here’s a quick breakdown of how each side performed in this year’s edition of the quadrennial tournament.

Morocco

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Une publication partagée par Équipe du Maroc (@equipedumaroc)

Morocco once again went the furthest of the Arab nations, building on the momentum of their historic 2022 run in Qatar. The Atlas Lions opened their campaign with a draw that arguably should have been a win, before picking up victories over Scotland and Haiti. They then edged past the Netherlands on penalties in the Round of 32, comfortably dispatched Canada in the Round of 16, and eventually saw their journey come to an end with a 2-0 defeat to France in the quarter-finals; a performance that left the feeling they had more to give. If Qatar 2022 proved Morocco’s rise wasn’t a fluke, this tournament only reinforced it. Combined with their recent AFCON success, the North African Kingdom continues to justify the hype surrounding them, and all signs suggest their best years may still be ahead.

Algeria

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Une publication partagée par Gianni Infantino – FIFA President (@gianni_infantino)

Their North African neighbors, Algeria, had a more uneven tournament. Drawn into a difficult group alongside reigning champions Argentina, the Fennec Foxes got off to the worst possible start with a 3-0 defeat. They recovered with an entertaining 3-3 draw against Austria after beating Jordan 2-1 to reach the Round of 32, where a 2-0 loss to Switzerland brought their campaign to an end. For a team with Algeria’s talent and ambitions, it was difficult not to expect more. Still, the hope is that an early exit will only fuel the hunger of a squad that knows it is capable of doing more and going much further.

Tunisia

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Tunisia, meanwhile, endured the toughest tournament of any Arab nation. A 5-1 defeat to Sweden was followed by a 4-0 loss to Japan and a 3-1 defeat to the Netherlands, leaving the Eagles of Carthage without a single point to show for their campaign. Things unravelled so quickly that the federation dismissed the head coach after the opening game, hoping a change on the touchline could salvage the tournament. It couldn’t.

The scorelines came as a shock for a country that has built a reputation for consistently punching above its weight on the international stage. But if reports from Tunisian sports journalists are anything to go by, the problems run much deeper than who occupies the dugout. Many have pointed to longstanding structural issues within the federation, suggesting this World Cup was less of a one-off collapse and more the symptom of a bigger problem. Until those issues are addressed, getting Tunisia back to the level we’ve come to expect won’t be easy.

Egypt

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Arguably the biggest surprise of the tournament, Egypt finally gave their fans the World Cup campaign they had been waiting decades for. In what was only their fourth appearance at the competition, the Pharaohs recorded their first-ever World Cup victory with a 3-1 win over New Zealand, sparking celebrations that stretched far beyond Egypt’s geographic borders. Coupled with draws against Iran and Belgium, the result was enough to send them into the knockout stages for the first time in the nation’s history.

Things only got better from there. Egypt edged past Australia on penalties in the Round of 32 to secure a second historic World Cup win and set up a last-16 meeting with reigning champions Argentina. What followed was one of the most exhilarating games of the tournament. Egypt struck first, denied Lionel Messi from the penalty spot, then doubled their lead before having another goal ruled out in a decision that quickly became one of the tournament’s biggest talking points. Argentina eventually turned the game around with three goals in the space of 10 minutes to win 3-2, but many Egyptian fans left feeling their team had been on the wrong end of several crucial refereeing decisions.

Regardless of how the match ended, Egypt left the tournament with their heads held high. For what was likely Mohamed Salah’s final World Cup, the captain finally helped deliver the breakthrough his country had been chasing for generations, proving that Egypt can compete with the very best when it matters most.

Jordan

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Simply qualifying for the World Cup was already a historic achievement for Jordan, but the Nashama refused to be overawed by the occasion. They found the net in all three of their group-stage matches, opening their campaign with a 3-1 defeat to Austria before another 3-1 loss to Algeria. Their final outing, a spirited performance against eventual finalists Argentina, also ended in defeat, but not before Jordan had scored once again.

Results may not have gone their way, but reducing Jordan’s campaign to three defeats would miss the bigger picture. Just being there marked a watershed moment for Jordanian football, while every goal and every performance gave supporters a glimpse of what this team could become. For many Jordanians, their World Cup debut carried a significance that extended beyond football, with the team also viewed by many as representing the wider Palestinian cause on the global stage. They may be heading home without a point, but they leave with memories that will stay with a generation of Jordanian fans—and with the belief that this shouldn’t be their last World Cup.

Iraq

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For Iraq, simply returning to the World Cup after a 40-year absence was already a major moment. But once the tournament began, things quickly unravelled. A 4-1 defeat to Norway was followed by a 3-0 loss to France, before a 5-0 defeat to Senegal brought their campaign to a painful end. To make matters worse, they also finished their final game with a red card. Three defeats, 12 goals conceded, and just one scored makes for difficult reading. That said, the tournament shouldn’t be judged on results alone. Iraq, which was arguably placed in the toughest group in the competition, made it back to football’s biggest stage after four decades away, and that alone gave a new generation something to build on. The priority now is making sure this appearance becomes the start of something, rather than another isolated chapter.

Saudi Arabia

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Saudi Arabia never quite managed to recapture the magic that made headlines in Qatar four-years-ago. After stunning Lionel Messi’s Argentina in one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, expectations were naturally higher this time around. Instead, the Green Falcons opened with a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Uruguay before suffering a heavy 4-0 defeat to Spain. Their campaign ended with a goalless draw against Cape Verde, leaving them with just two points from three games and an early flight home.

It was a far cry from the side that shocked the world in 2022. And with Saudi Arabia investing heavily in football ahead of hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup, there will undoubtedly be a feeling that this team should be further along. The ambition is there, the resources are there, but translating both into results on football’s biggest stage remains the next challenge.

Qatar

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Qatar’s campaign began with a little promise. A 1-1 draw against Switzerland on June 13 gave the Maroons something to build on, but that momentum disappeared quickly. Six days later, they were thrashed 6-0 by Canada in a result that all but ended their hopes of progressing, before a 3-1 defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed another group-stage exit.

Four years after hosting the tournament, Qatar looked more competitive in patches, but the score lines still told a difficult story. One point from three games was not enough to suggest the progress many had hoped for since 2022, and the heavy defeat to Canada will be the result that lingers most.

How Every Arab Team Performed at the 2026 FIFA World Cup

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How Every Arab Team Performed at the 2026 FIFA World Cup

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