Saudi Arabia earn draw with Iraq to secure World Cup berth

VIDEO SHOWS: HIGHLIGHTS OF SAUDI ARABIA & IRAQ'S 0-0 DRAW IN FOURTH ROUND AFC QUALIFIER FOR THE 2026 WORLD CUP RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA (OCTOBER 14, 2025) (AFC – See restrictions before use) SAUDI ARABIA (GREEN KIT) V IRAQ 1. PLAYERS WALKING OUT & LINING UP WITH MATCH OFFICIALS  2. COIN TOSS WITH CAPTAINS  SECOND HALF  3. SAUD ABDULHAMID SHOOTING OVER FOR SAUDI ARABIA  4. REPLAY OF ABDULHAMID’S SHOT  5. WAHEB SALEH HAVING HIS SHOT FROM OUTSIDE THE BOX SAVED BY IRAQ GOALKEEPER JALAL HASSAN BEFORE A FOLLOW-UP SHOT SPRAYS WELL WIDE 6. REPLAY OF HASSAN SAVING SALEH’S STRIKE 7. HASSAN SAVING SALEM AL-DAWSARI’S EFFORT FROM CLOSE RANGE 8. REPLAY OF HASSAN SAVING AL-DAWSARI’S ATTEMPT 9. NASSER AL-DAWSARI HAVING HIS SHOT SAVED BY HASSAN BEFORE SHOOTING HIS FOLLOW-UP WIDE 10. REPLAY OF HASSAN’S SAVE & AL-DAWSARI’S MISSED FOLLOW-UP  11. SAUDI ARABIA GOALKEEPER NAWAF AL-AQIDI KEEPING OUT HASSAN ABDULKAREEM'S LATE CURLING FREE KICK 12. REPLAY OF AL-AQIDI'S SAVE  13. REPLAY OF IRAQ COACH GRAHAM ARNOLD REACTING  14. SAUDI ARABIA COACH HERVE RENARD CELEBRATING AFTER THE FINAL WHISTLE AS THE MATCH FINISHED 0-0N WITH SAUDI ARABIA QUALIFYING FOR THE 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP  15. VARIOUS OF PLAYER CELEBRATIONS STORY: Saudi Arabia claimed a 0-0 draw with Iraq in Jeddah on Tuesday (October 14) to seal qualification for next year's World Cup finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Herve Renard's side only needed a point against Graham Arnold's Iraq, and an injury-time save by goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi to keep out Hassan Abdulkareem's curling free kick ensured the Saudis confirmed their progress. The result means Saudi Arabia win Group B of the fourth round of Asia's preliminaries, finishing level on four points with the Iraqis but ahead of their neighbours on goals scored after recording a 3-2 win over third-place finishers Indonesia. Both sides struggled throughout a tense opening 45 minutes played in front of more than 60,000 fans, with Saleh Abu Al-Shamat unlocking the visitors' defence soon after the restart when he played a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Feras Al-Brikan, the striker fizzing a ball across the face of goal from which Saud Abdulhamid shot wide. Al-Shamat continued to cause problems for the visitors but Jalal Hassan threw himself to his left to keep out a goal-bound strike six minutes after the restart. Hassan then denied Saudi captain Salem Al-Dawsari as the opportunities increased in regularity, with Nasser Al-Dawsari also frustrated by the Iraqi goalkeeper in the 63rd minute. A last-ditch tackle by Hassan Al-Tambkti stopped Iraqi forward Mohanad Ali on a rare sortie forward 15 minutes from time while Abdulkareem went closest of all for his team deep into injury time. However, his curling left-foot free kick from 25 yards out was pushed to safety by Al-Aqidi when he dived to his right and the Saudis prevailed to qualify for a seventh World Cup since making their debut in 1994. (Production: Stefan Haskins)

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