Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Saudi Arabian women’s national team enters FIFA world ranking for first time

Saudi Arabian women’s national team enters FIFA world ranking for first time

The Saudi Arabian Women’s Football National Team has been included in the official FIFA World Ranking for the very first time on Friday.
The historic sporting achievement for the country has been celebrated widely across Saudi with a dedicated event held at the King Abdullah Sports City in the coastal city of Jeddah.

The Women’s Football Department of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) was established in September 2019, with the national team introduced two years later following initial try-outs that welcomed over 700 girls and the squad has since featured 47 girls from across Saudi Arabia.

The national team, commonly known as the Green Falcons are currently led by Finish Head Coach Rosa Lappi-Seppälä, who took over from the newly promoted Women’s Technical Director Monika Staab. The team’s first competitive international matches took place February 2022 against Seychelles and Maldives and captured global headlines and were a watershed moment for Saudi women’s sports, with the Saudi’s recording 2-0 victories in both matches.

Overall, the national team has featured in nine official matches, three of which were in its inaugural friendly tournament that saw it crowned as champion, helping earn its place on the global stage within the FIFA Ranking. As a result, the team will now be able to build on its record of four wins, three draws and two defeats by officially competing in FIFA and AFC-sanctioned competitions.

“Each player has their own story, but what we all share is a love of football and a desire to compete. To be FIFA ranked makes us part of world football and that means everything. We recognise that we have a huge responsibility to inspire the youth and pave way for the future generation who will represent Saudi Arabia,” said team captain Sarah Khalid.

The goalkeeper added: Regardless of our ranking today, we will work hard to improve. We have an exciting future ahead when you look at how young our squad is. But for now, we are just taking it one step at a time and trying to grow every day.

Yasser Al Misehal, President of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and FIFA Council member said: “What these girls achieved in just a matter of a year and a half has been nothing short of incredible. Since 2019 we have managed to successfully establish a national team, a premier league, a first division, a school’s league, with 50,000 girls signing up and in recent weeks introduced an U-17 national team. In just 2 years we have nearly doubled the number of registered players, clubs, referees and staff and seen an 800% growth in the number of coaches. Statistics all of football can be proud of and it just shows what is possible when you love the game.

We are fully committed to offering equal opportunities for boys and girls, in sport and beyond. For instance, our national teams get equal daily allowance while representing their country, regardless of gender. They share the same training pitches, stay in the same quality accommodation, and have access to the same equipment and resources.”

Women’s football in Saudi Arabia has undergone huge strides in recent years and mirrors much of the transformation happening across all areas in the country. The last two years alone witnessed astronomical growth across all metrics including the number of registered players to licensed coaches and referees to clubs and domestic competitions. All have massively increased.

Today, there are 694 league players, representing over 20 nationalities from across the globe, marking an 86% increase since 2021. Female coaches grew from 119 to over 1,000 in two years, while grassroots academies focused on 6-17-year-old players recorded a massive 773% growth in registrations. Anoud Al Asmari also became the first Saudi referee to be included on FIFA’s official referee list for the year, paving the way for aspiring referees hoping to represent Saudi Arabia on the world stage.

Lamia Bahaian, Saudi Arabian Football Federation board member and Supervisor of the Women’s Football Department said: “Our national team made history when it was established 18 months ago, and since then their journey has inspired millions across Saudi Arabia and the region. Entering the FIFA Ranking has been the moment we’ve been building up towards, and signals just the beginning of what we want to achieve with these girls. They can write their own history now.

We are also already in active collaborations with many global bodies and federations and invite the world to join us on our women’s football movement as we strive to give it the platform it truly deserves.

Earlier this year, SAFF concluded its inaugural professional leagues last month, with Al Nassr crowned champions of the eight-team Women’s Premier League. On an amateur level, almost 50,000 girls from a total of 3,660 school teams took part in the first nationwide Schools League.

Following a successful men’s AFC Asian Cup bid, Saudi Arabia now awaits a decision on its 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup bid which promises to grow the sport across the continent and build a lasting legacy in Saudi Arabia.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×