Saudi Arabia's World Cup preparations have taken a bizarre turn: defender Saud Abdulhamid had his passport stolen during a break-in on his wedding trip to Amsterdam, and he won't be joining the national squad on schedule.
The Saudi Arabian Football Federation confirmed the incident Monday. Abdulhamid was in the Netherlands with his family for his wedding ceremony when someone broke into his private vehicle and took personal belongings — passport included. Hard timing at the best of times. Catastrophic timing when your squad has already flown to the United States for pre-tournament training camps.
Abdulhamid might miss critical prep time
The SAFF is now coordinating with Saudi Arabia's embassy in the Netherlands to fast-track emergency travel documents. The Ministry of Sport is involved too. It'll get resolved — these things always do — but every day lost is a day not spent integrating with new head coach Georgios Donis, who only recently took charge and is still building his squad chemistry.
Abdulhamid is currently on loan at RC Lens from AS Roma, and he's been named in Donis's 30-man preliminary squad. He's not a fringe player being given a courtesy call-up. Saudi Arabia needs him match-sharp and familiar with the setup before competitive football starts.
The national team is already stateside, running camps in New York and Texas with friendlies against Ecuador, Puerto Rico, and Senegal lined up as part of their final preparations. That's the window Abdulhamid is now eating into through no fault of his own.
What's at stake in Group H
Saudi Arabia draw Spain and Uruguay in Group H — not a gentle introduction to the tournament. Cape Verde complete the group. The matches run from June 15 to 26, 2026, which means Donis has precious little time to get his defensive shape settled against proper opposition before facing one of the most technically refined sides in the world.
Any disruption to his back line's cohesion, however brief, is a problem. Saudi Arabia's defensive odds for the group stage were never comfortable reading — this doesn't help.
The federation's statement offered no timeline for when Abdulhamid is expected to land stateside. Right now, the answer appears to be: whenever the Dutch embassy can process the paperwork.
