Saudi Coach Georgios Donis Unveils Bold Gulf 27 Squad
Saudi coach Georgios Donis has signalled a sharp break from the recent past with a bold squad for Gulf 27, leaving out captain Salem Al-Dawsari and Roma defender Saud Abdulhamid for the tournament in Jeddah.
The competition, hosted from 23 September to 6 October, will be Donis’s first major test in charge of the Green Falcons. He has wasted no time making big calls.
Al-Dawsari, long the face of the national team, and Abdulhamid, a regular at the recent World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, headline a group of eight players cut from the Gulf Cup roster despite their involvement on football’s biggest stage. Ahmed Al-Kassar, Ali Majrashi, Ali Lajami, Ayman Yahya, Saleh Al-Shehri and Khalid Al-Ghannam have also been left out.
New Additions
Eight new names step into the spotlight.
- Hamed Al-Shanqiti
- Mohammed Mahzari
- Zakaria Hawsawi
- Mohammed Al-Qahtani
- Saleh Abu Al-Shamat
- Abdullah Al-Salem
- Rayan Hamed
- Hammam Al-Hammami
have all been drafted in as Donis reshapes the squad’s spine and depth with fresh energy.
Final Squad List
According to the Saudi national team’s official account on X, the final list for Gulf 27 features 26 players:
- Goalkeepers: Mohammed Al-Owais, Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Hamed Al-Shanqiti.
- Defenders: Abdulelah Al-Amri, Jihad Zikri, Rayan Hamed, Hassan Kadesh, Hassan Tambakti, Nawaf Boushal, Mohammed Mahzari, Mutaib Al-Harbi, Zakaria Hawsawi.
- Midfielders: Musab Al-Juwayr, Mohammed Al-Qahtani, Mohammed Kanno, Ziyad Al-Johani, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Alaa Haji, Sultan Mandash, Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat, Hammam Al-Hammami, Saleh Abu Al-Shamat.
- Forwards: Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Firas Al-Buraikan, Abdullah Al-Salem.
Group Stage
The assignment is clear and unforgiving.
Saudi Arabia sit in Group One alongside Kuwait, Oman and Iraq. Group Two pits Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain and Yemen against each other.
The Green Falcons kick off against Kuwait on 23 September at Al-Inma Stadium in King Abdullah Sports City. Oman await three days later on 26 September, before Iraq close out the group schedule on the 29th.
New coach, new faces, a home Gulf Cup and heavyweight regional rivals circling. Donis has made his statement with the squad list; the real verdict will arrive under the Jeddah floodlights.
