Saudi Arabia cancel December camp and friendlies after Asian Cup postponement

The Saudi Football Federation has cancelled the national team’s December training camp and two planned friendlies against Qatar and Jordan after the AFC Asian Cup 2027 was postponed by a year.

The camp had been scheduled to take place in Al Khobar from 21 December to 3 January. Saudi Arabia were due to face Qatar on 27 December before meeting Jordan on 2 January 2027, but both matches have now been called off following coordination with the Qatari and Jordanian football federations.

The December camp had been intended as the final stage of Saudi Arabia’s preparations for the tournament, which was originally scheduled to begin in January in Saudi Arabia.

The organising committee for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup announced that the competition would be delayed by 12 months. In coordination with the Asian Football Confederation, the tournament will now be held from 23 December 2027 to 21 January 2028.

Saudi Arabia’s immediate preparations will continue with an overseas camp in Doha, Qatar, running from 8 to 17 November. The team will play two friendlies during that gathering, against South Korea on 13 November and Uzbekistan on 17 November.

Giorgos Donis named his 30-man squad for the Doha camp on Wednesday.

The squad is:

Mohammed Al-Owais, Hamed Youssef, Abdulquddus Atiah, Abdulilah Al-Amri, Hassan Al-Tambakti, Ali Lajami, Sultan Tankar, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Nawaf Boushal, Mohammed Mahzari, Saud Abdulhamid, Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat, Mutaib Al-Harbi, Fares Abdi, Musab Al-Juwayr, Mukhtar Ali, Mohammed Kanno, Ziyad Al-Jahni, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Abdulmalik Al-Ayiri, Sultan Mandash, Mohammed Al-Qahtani, Marwan Al-Sahafi, Mohammed Al-Kuwaitbi, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, Turki Al-Ammar, Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Firas Al-Buraikan and Abdullah Al-Salem.