Arab Nations 🌙

The Arab Campaign at World Cup 2026 — How All Eight Nations Fared

Eight Arab nations began this World Cup — the most in the tournament's history — three reached the knockout rounds, and two are in the Round of 16: another set of Arab-football records. Morocco have carried the flag furthest: after holding Brazil 1–1, beating Scotland and outlasting Haiti in the groups, the Atlas Lions knocked out the Netherlands on penalties (1–1, 3–2 in the shootout) — a second consecutive World Cup with a knockout shootout win, echoing Qatar 2022. A Round of 16 meeting with co-hosts Canada on July 4 now stands between Walid Regragui's side and a second straight quarter-final.

Egypt made history of their own. Unbeaten through Group G, the Pharaohs then won their Round of 32 tie against Australia 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw — the first World Cup knockout victory in Egypt's history, with Mohamed Salah among the flawless takers. Their reward is the tie the whole region wanted: Argentina in the Round of 16 — Messi against Salah. Algeria's brave run ended in the Round of 32, beaten 2–0 by Switzerland — but they leave having survived the group of death, taken a point off Austria in a six-goal classic, and reached the knockouts for the first time since 2014.

The five who fell at the group stage each left a mark. Jordan, the debutants, scored in every match they played — a historic first goal against Austria, Al-Rashdan's strike against Algeria, and captain Mousa Tamari's unforgettable goal against world champions Argentina — and went home pointless but proud. Saudi Arabia drew with Uruguay and Cape Verde and were undone only by Spain. Qatar claimed their first-ever World Cup point with a 90th-minute equaliser against Switzerland. Tunisia, at a seventh finals, ran into three of the group stage's form teams, and Iraq — back after 40 years — found France, Norway and Senegal too strong, but ended a generation-long wait just by being here.

Every Arab team's remaining fixtures, live scores and standings are tracked on this page in real time, and every match has a full report on the KickD blog — in English and in Arabic on our dedicated Arabic World Cup hub.