One of the sensations of the 2022 World Cup had an unsuccessful performance at the Asian Cup in January. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia has every chance of advancing to the next world championship ahead of schedule – a victory over Tajikistan will help them with this.
Saudi Arabia
In the Asian Cup, Saudi Arabia played well in the group stage: they defeated Oman (2:1), Kyrgyzstan (2:0) and shared points with Thailand (0:0). In the playoffs against South Korea, Mancini's team was worse in creation (1,20 xG vs. 2,42 of the opponent) and lost in the penalty shootout (1:2). In the qualifying group for the 2026 World Cup, Saudi Arabia confidently beat two underdogs: Pakistan (4:0) and Jordan (2:0).
Tajikistan
In the current qualifying phase, Tajikistan won 4 points out of 6 possible and the difference between goals and goals conceded is 7:2. In the Asian Cup, the team reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to eventual finalist Jordan (0:1). Against Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan does not have the most enviable head-to-head statistics – the only match ended in a landslide victory for the Saudis (3:0).
guess
In El Baja, the home team will achieve another victory in the qualifiers. It is obvious that Saudi Arabia has more ambitions than Tajikistan in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
guess
Saudi Arabia win with handicap (-1)
