French coach Hervé Renard of the Saudi national football team announced the return of Saud Abdul Hamid, the right-back from French club Lens, to the Green squad in preparation for the Asian playoff qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

Abdul Hamid had missed the previous international break, before the coach decided to call him up again among a group of 27 players for the upcoming preparations.

The roster includes: Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Abdul Rahman Al-Sanabi, Mohammed Al-Yami, Raghed Najjar, Saud Abdul Hamid, Ali Majrashi, Nawaf Bushal, Saad Al-Mousa, Mohammed Suleiman, Hassan Tambakti, Jihad Dhakri, Muteb Al-Harbi, and Ayman Yahya.

Also included in the list are Mohammed Kanno, Nasser Al-Dosari, Ziyad Al-Jahni, Musab Al-Juwair, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Ali Al-Hassan, Mohannad Al-Saad, Salem Al-Dosari, Marwan Al-Suhafi, Saleh Abu Al-Shamat, Abdul Rahman Al-Aboud, Saleh Al-Shehri, Firas Al-Buraikan, and Abdullah Al-Hamdan.

The national team will hold a training camp in Jeddah starting next Thursday, ahead of their crucial matches against Indonesia and Iraq on October 8 and 14, at the Al-Inma Stadium in King Abdullah Sports City as part of Group B.

According to the playoff system, the top team in each group qualifies directly for the World Cup, while the second-placed teams will meet in home-and-away matches, with the winner advancing to the continental playoff scheduled for next March to determine the last two spots in the World Cup.

It is worth noting that six Asian teams have already secured their spots for the World Cup: Japan, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, and Jordan, leaving limited spots awaiting resolution through the playoff.