Saudi Arabia Parts Ways With Roberto Mancini

In a significant development for Saudi Arabian football, former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has mutually agreed to part ways with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, ending his tenure as national team manager after just 14 months.

Mancini, who took on the role in August 2023 after departing from his position with Italy, faced a challenging spell at the helm, especially during recent months with his commitments to the team being questioned by media and players alike.

Just before Saudi Arabia’s opening match in the Asian Cup this January, he made headlines by stating that three players had been dropped from the squad due to concerns about their commitment to the matches. This assertion was met with strong denials from former captain Salman Al-Faraj, Sultan Al-Ghannam, and goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi.

The Asian Cup also proved to be a tumultuous affair for Mancini, who controversially walked down the tunnel before South Korea’s decisive penalty in a shootout that led to Saudi Arabia’s elimination.

Throughout his tenure, Mancini also frequently expressed frustration over the lack of opportunities for home-grown forwards in the Saudi Pro League. This has seen a surge of high-profile foreign signings from top European clubs including Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.

Under his management, the Saudi team struggled in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, facing unexpected draws against lower-ranked opponents like Bahrain and Indonesia putting their participation in the competition under threat.

For fans in Pakistan, Roberto Mancini will be remembered as one of the biggest names to visit the country for an official FIFA delegated competition when he traveled to Islamabad with the Saudi national team for the second round of World Cup qualifying. He led his side to a 3-0 win in that fixture. 

Interestingly, the Italian becomes the 4th manager to be sacked from his post in the past 12 months after their visit to Pakistan.

Félix Dalmás was let go by Cambodia for failing to beat Pakistan while Petar Šegrt met the same fate after coming to Pakistan with Tajikistan and Hussein Ammouta was let go by Jordan.