Salem Al-Dawsari

Saudi Arabia · La Liga · MF · KSA · 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.

WK 2026 selectieprofiel

Positie
MF
Selectierol
Verwachte basisspeler
Positierangschikking
#1
Interlands
107
Interlandgoals
26
Interlandassists
13
0.32(modelbeoordeling, 0–1)
2.2%

Bekijk Salem Al-Dawsari op de volledige scoringslijst van Saudi Arabia →

Recente vorm

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.

Toernooi-scoutingradar

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

Per-90-ratio's uit eventdata van grote toernooien (StatsBomb), gerangschikt ten opzichte van 102 midfielders met minimaal 270 minuten in dezelfde finalerondes. Hoger = beter.

1
Carrièrewedstrijden
34
Carrièreminuten
0
Doelpunten
0
Assists
0.0
xG

Carrièrepercentielen

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

Ten opzichte van 356 MF-spelers met minimaal 3,000 carrièreminuten in de dataset. Hoger = beter.

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

Seizoen voor seizoen

SeizoenClubCompetitieDoelpuntenAssists
2017-18VillarrealLa Liga134000.00.0
FBref-data tot en met 2022-23. Rijen gemarkeerd met wiki zijn topscorervermeldingen van Wikipedia en bevatten alleen doelpunten.
▸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