With a place in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter-finals on the line, Saudi Arabia and Trinidad and Tobago square off on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Nevada.

The Green Falcons are second in Group D following a 1-0 defeat to the USA, putting them two points above Trinidad, who are last after playing to a 1-1 draw with Haiti on matchday two.

Match preview

It has been a relatively inconsistent 2025 campaign for the Saudis thus far, and that continued on Thursday as they missed a chance to book a place in the quarter-finals.

Herve Renard’s side had their opportunities against the hosts but only registered one effort on target, winning consecutive games only once since the start of the year.

At the same time, a draw on Sunday may be enough to see them through to the last eight of this tournament, so long as Haiti fail to claim maximum points against the USA in their final group fixture.

So far this year, this team have netted a goal or fewer in five of their seven matches played, but they have also maintained five clean sheets over that stretch.

Since his return, Renard has yet to lose consecutive games with the national team, following up every defeat in his second stint at the helm with a victory in their next match.

Four of the previous five meetings between Saudi Arabia and Trinidad have gone the Green Falcons way, including a 3-1 victory in the most recent friendly featuring both teams last year.

It took a lot of resilience and grit, but TNT were able to stay alive at the Gold Cup this week, coming from behind to earn a point against the Haitians on matchday two.

Despite having a man advantage for over 50 minutes of that contest, it was a struggle for the Caribbean side, who conceded early in the second half and only registered two efforts on target in the game.

To reach the last eight of this tournament for the first in a decade (2015) they must win this match, and will also likely need Haiti to drop points against the USA as TNT boast a goal differential of -5 and the Haitians are at -1.

After netting a combined seven goals in their opening two matches played this month, Dwight Yorke’s men have scored one or fewer in their last three competitive fixtures.

The Soca Warriors have failed to win their last four matchday three affairs in the group stage of this tournament but have only lost one of those contests (6-0 to the USA in 2023).

Their only victory versus the Green Falcons came back in 2013 when they came away with a 3-1 triumph in a match that took place in Saudi Arabia.

Team News

From matchday one to two of this competition Renard added six new players into the Saudi starting 11, Ali Majrashi, Abdullah Madu, Ali Al Hassan, Abdulrahman Al-Aboud, Firas Al-Buraikan and Ayman Yahya.

Muhannad Yahya Saeed Al Saad, Mohammed Bakor, Salem Al-Najdi and Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi are all seeking to collect their first senior caps in this fixture.

Yorke also brought in six newcomers to the Trinidad starting lineup from matchday one to two with Rio Cardines, Andre Raymond, Dante Sealy, Andre Rampersad, Levi Garcia and Nathaniel James.

Justin Garcia had their only goal on Thursday, the second of his international career, enabling his side to have a fighting chance to advance heading into this game.

Saudi Arabia possible starting lineup:

Al-Aqidi; Majrashi, Al-Amri, Madu, Boushal; Abdulrahmid, Ali, Al-Aboud; Al-Ahehri, Al-Buraikan, Al-Sahafi

Trinidad and Tobago possible starting lineup:

Phillip; Cardines, Bateau, J. Garcia, Raymond; Sealy, Rampersad, Fortune, Spicer; L. Garcia, Molino