JEDDAH: Herve Renard, the French coach of the Saudi national team, has said that the Kingdom’s match against Iraq in their 2026 World Cup qualifiers is one of the most important matches of his coaching career.
“We are just 24 hours away from the match, and our goal is clear: qualifying for the World Cup. We must be fully focused to achieve that,” Renard said during a press conference on Monday ahead of the match at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah on Tuesday night.
The coach spoke of his journey with the Saudi national team since his return to coaching, saying: “When I returned to coach the national team, I had great confidence in the players, and I also had the confidence of the president of the federation.
“Football, like life, is full of challenges, and I love these challenges. We have great motivation, and we are one step away from achieving a new accomplishment.”
Renard responded to Iraq coach Graham Arnold’s comments that the pressure would be on Saudi Arabia, saying: “We like pressure. For us, it’s positive pressure that pushes us to perform at our best.”
The Saudi national team can afford to win or draw to qualify for the World Cup finals in the US, Canada, and Mexico. The Iraqi national team need to win the clash.
Saudi Arabia striker Saleh Al-Shehri also spoke at the press conference, and stressed that the Green Falcons will be playing to win, adding that qualification was the most important thing.
He said that even if the match conditions forced the team to draw, the most important thing was to qualify for the World Cup.
Both Saudi Arabia and Iraq go into the final game in Group B of Asia’s fourth round of preliminaries with three points.
