Saudi Arabia
Line-up
- 21Mohammed Al Owais
- 4Ali Albulayhi
- 23Al Fatil, Mohammed
- 2Alburayk, Mohammed
- 14Otayf, Abdullah
- 10Salem Al Dawsari
- 16Al Mogawhi, Hussain
- 19Fahad Al Muwallad
- 12Al Shamrani, Hamdan
- 9Mohammed Al-Saiari
- 18Gharib, Abdulrahman
- 13Al Shahrani, Yasir
- 11Bahebri, Hattan
- 20Al-Bishi, Abdulaziz
Subs
- 22Alyami, Mohammed
- 1Ali, Waleed
- 3Al Amri, Abdulelah
- 17Alganham, Sultan
- 7Noah Al Mousa
- 8Yahia Al Shehri
- 15Ghaleb, Ibrahim
- 6Al-Khalif, Ayman
North Korea
Line-up
- 1Myong-Guk Ri
- 2Chol-Bom Kim
- 23Il-Jin Ri
- 4Song-Gi Kim
- 11Il-Gwan Jong
- 15Un-Chol Ri
- 7Han Kwang-Song
- 10Pak Kwang-Ryong
- 17Chang-Ho Ri
- 12Kyong-Hun Kim
- 19Kwang-Hyok Rim
- 5Song-Il An
- 3Kuk-Chol Jang
- 16Yon-Jick Lee
Subs
- 18Hyok Sin
- 21Ju-Hyok Kang
- 14Kuk-Chol Kang
- 6Thong-Il Ri
- 9Yong-Il Kim
- 22Kum-Chol Ri
- 13Hyon-Jin Sim
- 20Song-Hyok Choe
- 8Hyok-Chol Ri
Despite showing glimpses of promise, Saudi Arabia failed to make much headway at the World Cup in the summer, but they can compete at this level. In fact, Juan Antonio Pizzi’s men come into the tournament as fifth-favourites, so they’re not to be taken lightly.
Tuesday’s favourites, who can be backed at no bigger than 4/6 to win this match, have steadily built momentum over the last few months. Since leaving Russia in June, they’ve lost just one of their six matches, while they come into this tournament unbeaten in four. It would be wrong to say that they’ve created an overly positive impression, but they certainly haven’t created a negative one. They’ve done the business against some weak sides, while they even avoided embarrassment when losing by just two goals against Brazil.