Classroom lesson · Sport · 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia

Football in Saudi Arabia

The biggest sport in the country, played in every street and schoolyard

Young footballers playing a match on a sand pitch in Saudi Arabia

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Football is by far the most popular sport in Saudi Arabia. Children play it on sandy patches of ground, in school playgrounds, on indoor pitches and on neighbourhood courts called 'malaeb'. The national team is nicknamed the 'Falcons of the Green' (or just the Green Falcons), after the country's green flag and its love of falcons.

Tell me more

Saudi Arabia has played in the men's football World Cup six times. The most famous moment came in 2022 in Qatar, when Saudi Arabia beat Argentina - that year's eventual winners - 2-1 in the first round. It is still talked about as one of the great World Cup surprises.

The Saudi Pro League is the country's top football division. In the last few years, some of the most famous players in the world have come to play in it, including Cristiano Ronaldo (who plays in Riyadh) and many other top international stars. Saudi clubs like Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr have huge fan followings.

Football in Saudi Arabia is changing fast. Women's football clubs have grown rapidly, with a national women's league and a national team that has been playing more and more international matches. Many Saudi schools now have girls' football teams too.

Football is also a community thing. Every neighbourhood has its little pitch. After sunset, when the heat fades, the pitches fill up with players of every age. Saudi cities sound a bit like every other footballing country in the world - the thud of a ball, kids shouting, parents cheering.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why might football be popular in almost every country in the world?
  2. 02Lots of children in Saudi Arabia play after sunset. How would that change your own day if you did the same?
  3. 03When a small team beats a big team, why does the whole world remember it?
Try this

Classroom activity

As a class, hold a 'Falcons of the Green' mini-tournament at break time. Make up names for each team using a Saudi animal (the Oryx, the Sand Cats, the Camels, the Leopards). Keep a quick league table.