Saudi Arabia have emerged as one of the stronger Asian sides over the past decade and are now World Cup regulars.

It was not until the 1970s that football was taken seriously by the Saudis and their first qualification attempt was for the 1978 finals in Argentina.

Subsequent qualification campaigns did not significantly raise expectations, until Saudi Arabia qualified for the 1994 finals in the United States.

They surprised many observers by winning two of their group games before losing to Sweden in the second round.

But Saudi Arabia have not won a finals game since 1994 and have picked up just one point - against South Africa in 1998 - from the past two World Cups.