After reaching the final of the twenty-seventh Gulf Cup, sports memory recalls images of the golden generation of the Saudi national team, which inaugurated its glories in the ancient tournament, where the national formations were crowded with heavy names and great weight on the field.
In the finals and decisive matches of the 1994, 2002, and 2003 tournaments, the Saudi squad was distinguished by names as big as players: Sami Al-Jaber, Mohammed Al-Deayea, Fouad Anwar, and Fahd Al-Harifi, then Nawaf Al-Temyat, Mohammed Nour, and Yasser Al-Qahtani. These names were not just tactical elements in the coaches’ lineup, but rather “super” stars who possessed individual prestige and the ability to resolve complex confrontations with one touch.
This individual momentum did not stop with the first three generations of coronation, but rather extended for many years during which the leadership figure of the team was formed in the 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2019 finals, with the participation of football figures such as Osama Hawsawi, Saud Kariri, Tayseer Al-Jassim, Salman Al-Faraj, and Salem Al-Dossary, where the media and public presence was closely linked to the presence of the net star who was in the spotlight, and whose shoulders bore the weight of expectations. And pressure during major appointments; This always gave Al-Akhdar a unique character that intimidated competitors before the starting whistle.
On the other hand, the Saudi national team enters the 2026 Gulf Cup final against its Emirati counterpart with a completely different scene that reflects a radical shift in the philosophy of building the group, as the current lineup is devoid of first-class names or players who are classified as net stars according to “super star” standards. The current circumstances have produced a lineup whose strength depends on the elements of passion, evidential desire, and collective spirit, far from relying on individualism or a loud public name that plays the role of the usual savior.
This contrast between the past and the present puts the anticipated final under the microscope of artistic and media comparison. While yesterday's finals were managed with the skill of experts and the weight of the names that were experienced at the summits, today's final is fought by a young battalion armed with systemic integration and tactical discipline, in an attempt to redefine the concept of sporting success and to confirm that the strength of the "Green" lies in its shirt and its historical identity, and is not limited to the presence of specific brilliant names.
The sports street is eagerly looking forward to seeing whether this group, devoid of a popular star, is able to make a real difference and write a new chapter in the records of the beloved tournament, as this match gives the promising group the opportunity to prove that the fighting spirit and collective effort sometimes outweigh individual solutions, and that podiums do not necessarily require the presence of a “super” player as much as it requires a group that knows how to win the finals.
The decisive confrontation against the Emirates does not merely represent a competition for a new Gulf championship to be added to the coffers of Saudi football, but rather a real test of the extent of the success of betting on collectiveness in the face of a history filled with immortal names, as this generation seeks to inaugurate its own stardom from the big door, and to move from the category of the young squad to embracing glory and returning the absent continental title to the corridors of Riyadh.
The Saudi delegation ended its participation in the twentieth Asian Games “Nagoya 2026” with the largest medal tally in the history of its participation in the continental sports forum, after collecting 17 medals, 4 gold, 3 silver, and 10 bronze, and came in 18th place on the general ranking table, in a result that reveals a clear development in the size of the harvest, without being matched so far by a similar progress in its position among the Asian sports powers.
Nagoya's medals raised Saudi Arabia's historical tally since its first participation in the Asian Games to 88 medals, 33 gold, 18 silver, and 37 bronze.
Saudi Arabia entered the current edition with 71 medals (29 gold, 15 silver and 27 bronze), before adding Nagoya’s tally of 17 medals.
The Saudi medals in Nagoya were distributed among five sports, with jiu-jitsu contributing the most with five medals (two gold and three bronze), while equestrian won four medals (two gold, one silver and one bronze), and e-sports added three medals (one silver and two bronze), and karate won three (one silver and two bronze), while two bronzes came from athletics.
The four gold medals came from only two sports: Omar Nada won the jiu-jitsu gold medal in the under-94 kilogram category, and his brother Abdullah Nada added a gold medal in the under-85 kilogram category, while the show jumping team won the team gold medal through Ramzi Al-Dahami, Khaled Al-Mabatti, Abdul Rahman Al-Rajhi, and Saad Al-Ajmi, before Al-Dahami added the individual gold medal.
The distribution of medals reveals an important aspect of the Saudi centre’s reading. The ten bronze medals represented 58.8 percent of the tally, while the four gold medals represented 23.5 percent. In the Asian Games table, the ranking is not determined by the total medals, but rather by the number of golds first, then the silvers when the gold is equal, then the bronzes.
This rule appears clearly when reading the countries that preceded Saudi Arabia in Nagoya. China topped with 341 medals (169 gold, 89 silver and 83 bronze), Japan came second with 269 medals (83 gold, 95 silver and 91 bronze), then South Korea came third with 150 medals (39 gold, 43 silver and 68 bronze).
India ranked fourth with 85 medals (21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze), Uzbekistan fifth with 70 medals (21 gold, 25 silver and 24 bronze), Iran sixth with 52 medals (19 gold, 18 silver and 15 bronze), and Thailand seventh with 52 medals as well (18 gold, 13 silver and 21 bronze).
Kazakhstan came eighth with 84 medals (12 gold, 24 silver, and 48 bronze), Hong Kong was ninth with 54 medals (11 gold, 19 silver, and 24 bronze), while Bahrain ranked tenth with 22 medals (11 gold, 5 silver, and 6 bronze).
Malaysia ranked 11th with 32 medals (9 gold, 7 silver, and 16 bronze), North Korea came in 12th place with 29 medals (7 gold, 13 silver, and 9 bronze), then the UAE came in 13th place with 13 medals (7 gold, 5 silver, and 6 bronze), while Qatar came in 14th place with 18 medals (6 gold, 6 silver, and 6 bronze).
Chinese Taipei came in 15th place with 55 medals (5 gold, 17 silver, and 33 bronze), Indonesia in 16th place with 39 medals (5 gold, 11 silver, and 23 bronze), then the Philippines in 17th place with 29 medals (4 gold, 9 silver, and 16 bronze), and Saudi Arabia in 18th place with 17 medals (4 gold, 3 silver). And 10 bronze).
A comparison between these countries reveals that the total number alone is not enough to create an advanced position; Bahrain came tenth with 22 medals, five places ahead of Chinese Taipei, which collected 55 medals. The UAE also ranked 13th with only 13 medals, ahead of Qatar, Taipei and Indonesia, despite each having a greater total tally. The difference here is made by gold; Bahrain won 11 golds, and the UAE won 7, compared to 5 golds for Taipei and Indonesia.
As for Saudi Arabia, it tied with the Philippines in four gold medals, and the ruling moved to the silver medals, as the Philippines had 9 compared to Saudi Arabia’s 3, so that the Philippines came in 17th place and Saudi Arabia in 18th. It is a direct example that improving Saudi Arabia's position is not only linked to increasing the total number, but also to the quality of the medals that make up that number.
Reading Saudi posts since Busan 2002 provides a clearer picture. In Busan, Saudi Arabia ranked 11th after achieving 9 medals (7 gold, a silver and a bronze), then in Doha 2006 it collected a total of 14 medals (8 gold and 6 bronze) and came in 13th place.
In Gwangju 2010, Saudi Arabia won 13 medals (5 gold, 3 silver, and 5 bronze), and came in 13th place, before falling in Incheon 2014 to 19th place with 7 medals (3 gold, 3 silver, and a bronze).
Jakarta 2018 recorded the lowest position for Saudi Arabia during this period, when it came in 25th place with six medals (gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze), before the recovery process began in Hangzhou 2023, with the tally rising to 10 medals (4 gold, 2 silver, and 4 bronze) and advancing to 19th place.
In Nagoya the upward trend in numbers continued; From 6 medals in Jakarta to 10 in Hangzhou and then 17 in Nagoya. Thus, the tally increased compared to Jakarta by 11 medals, or 183.3 percent, while the ranking improved seven places, from 25th to 18th.
The comparison between Busan and Nagoya remains the most realistic; In 2002, Saudi Arabia achieved 9 medals and ranked 11th, while in 2026 it achieved nearly double that number, reaching 17 medals, yet it finished the tournament in 18th place. The difference is that gold represented 7 out of 9 medals in Busan, at a rate of 77.8 percent, compared to 4 out of 17 in Nagoya, at a rate of 23.5 percent.
The sequence of gold medals since 2002 summarizes a large part of the Saudi journey: 7 gold medals in Busan, 8 in Doha, 5 in Gwangju, 3 in Inchon, one gold in Jakarta, then 4 in Hangzhou and 4 in Nagoya.
These numbers do not reflect a state of stability, nor do they mean a complete restoration of the positions that Saudi Arabia reached at the beginning of the millennium. Since Jakarta, the number of medals has increased from 6 to 10 and then to 17, and the ranking has improved from 25th place to 19th and then 18th, which confirms the existence of progress, but the pace of the rise in the tally was much faster than the pace of rise in the countries’ table.
Between the 11th place with nine medals in Busan and the 18th place with 17 medals in Nagoya, the picture becomes clear: Saudi Arabia achieves more medals, but it does not advance in the ranking at the same rate. The next stage is not only related to increasing the number, but also to increasing the share of gold. Because four golds out of 17 medals placed Saudi Arabia in 18th place, while seven golds out of nine medals led it to 11th place 24 years ago.
