Salem Al-Dawsari

Saudi Arabia · MF · age 35

Salem Al-Dawsari of Saudi Arabia at the 2018 World Cup.
Photo Светлана Бекетова / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

The last dance

The man who scored the goal that stopped the world

On 22 November 2022, Salem Al-Dawsari cut inside from the left, beat two Argentine defenders, and curled a shot into the far corner that gave Saudi Arabia a 2-1 lead over the reigning Copa America champions. It remains one of the greatest World Cup upsets ever recorded. The model had given Saudi Arabia a 4.8% chance of winning that match. Al-Dawsari made the 4.8% happen.

He is 34 now, with 107 caps and 26 goals, a one-club man at Al-Hilal who has been the face of Saudi football for a decade. His composite rating has declined (0.318), but numbers do not capture what he represents. In a squad built around younger talent like Firas Al-Buraikan, Al-Dawsari is the living reminder that Saudi Arabia can hurt anyone on the biggest stage.

The question for June 15 is whether the ghost of 2022 haunts this tournament too. Uruguay are not Argentina, and the model gives Saudi Arabia just 7.3% today. But Al-Dawsari has defied steeper probabilities before, and the entire country will be watching the man who proved the impossible was not.

Perfil en la plantilla del Mundial 2026

Selección
Saudi Arabia
Posición
MF
Rol en la plantilla
Titular proyectado
Ranking en su posición
#1
Internacionalidades
107
Goles internacionales
26
Asistencias internacionales
13
0.32(valoración del modelo, 0–1)
2.2%

Ver a Salem Al-Dawsari en la lista de goleadores de Saudi Arabia →

Forma reciente

Steady

2024/25 international form vs the player's multi-season baseline (7.44 vs 7.38).

Major tournament stats

TournamentMPMinGAxGShKPPrgPPrgCTklInt
World Cup 20223297201.676192820
World Cup 20183283100.375325356
All tournaments6580301.81411518176
Event data from StatsBomb open data, covering the World Cup, Euro, Copa América and AFCON finals. Small per-tournament samples. Totals shown, not per-90 rates.
▸How to read this table— 11 columns explained
MP
Matches played in the tournament.
Min
Total minutes on the pitch.
G
Goals scored (penalties in normal play included; shootouts excluded).
A
Assists: passes that directly led to a goal.
xG
Expected goals: summed per-shot quality (StatsBomb's model).
Sh
Shots taken.
KP
Key passes: passes that led to a shot.
PrgP
Progressive passes: completed passes moving the ball ≥10m toward goal.
PrgC
Progressive carries: carries advancing ≥5m toward goal.
Tkl
Tackles won.
Int
Interceptions.

Radar de scouting del torneo

Defending

Tackles won / 90
1.09
54
Interceptions / 90
0.93
58
Ball recoveries / 90
5.59
86
Blocks / 90
1.40
33
Clearances / 90
0.16
11
Pressures / 90
14.43
33

Passing & progression

Prog. passes / 90
7.91
47
Key passes / 90
1.71
93
Prog. carries / 90
12.57
93
Pass completion %
86.1%
64

Possession

Carries / 90
46.86
78
Dribbles / 90
2.79
98

Ratios por 90 minutos a partir de datos de eventos en torneos mayores (StatsBomb), comparados con 102 midfielder con ≥270 minutos en las mismas fases finales. Mayor = mejor.

1
Partidos en carrera
34
Minutos en carrera
0
Goles
0
Asistencias
0.0
xG

Percentiles de carrera

Goals / 90
0.00
1
xG / 90
0.00
17
xAG / 90
0.00
18

frente a 356 jugadores en la posición de MF con ≥3,000 minutos de carrera en el conjunto de datos. Mayor = mejor.

Career: goals & xG by season

GoalsxG
Career goals and xG by season, 1 season from 2017-18 to 2017-18, 0 total goals, 0.0 total xG.Career goals and xG by season, 1 season from 2017-18 to 2017-18, 0 total goals, 0.0 total xG.0118

Temporada a temporada

TemporadaClubLigaGolesAsistencias
2017-18VillarrealLa Liga134000.00.0
Datos de FBref hasta 2022-23. Las filas marcadas como wiki son entradas de máximo goleador de Wikipedia y solo incluyen goles.
▸How to read this table— 6 columns explained
MP
Matches played in that season (start or sub counts as one).
Mins
Total minutes on the pitch — better signal for workload than MP alone.
Goals
Goals scored (penalties included).
Assists
Passes that directly led to a goal (FBref attribution).
xG
Expected goals — per-shot quality scored 0–1 by distance / angle / pressure, summed across the season.
xAG
Expected assisted goals — the xG of shots created by this player's passes, summed.
FBref data ends 2022-23; current-season rows tagged wiki come from Wikipedia top-scorer tables and carry only goals.

Rest of the Saudi Arabia squad