Storm chaos halts match for two hours; Saudi Arabia defeats Puerto Rico 3-0 in friendly ahead of 2026 World Cup

The Saudi national team achieved a friendly victory over its Puerto Rican counterpart by three goals to nil, in the match that brought them together as part of the Green's preparatory camp in the American city of Austin, in preparation for the 2026 World Cup.

The match was temporarily halted in the 21st minute due to warnings related to bad weather conditions, before resuming after about two hours of interruption, following an improvement in weather conditions and adherence to safety procedures inside the stadium.

The match between #SaudiArabia and Puerto Rico was stopped due to the weather.

Saudi journalist Nawaf Al-Aqeel (@nawaf__oga) reported
The players of both teams were removed from the field and directed to the changing rooms, while the fans were evacuated to safe areas inside the stadium, following weather warnings.

An alert was detected… pic.twitter.com/5UCwaxiY9C

— News - Sports 24 (@kuwait24Nu) June 6, 2026

The Saudi national team's goals were scored by Sultan Mandash, Abdullah Al-Hamdan and Salem Al-Dawsari, as the Green Falcons continued their positive run of results in their friendly matches in preparation for the World Cup.

Greek coach Donis entered the match with a lineup that witnessed many changes, with the aim of giving a number of players a chance, as Ahmed Al-Kassar participated in goal, and in front of him was a defense line consisting of Saud Abdul Hamid, Ali Lajami, Jihad Zikri and Hassan Kadash.

In midfield, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Ziyad Al-Jahani and Mohammed Kanno participated, along with Sultan Mandash and Khaled Al-Ghannam, while Abdullah Al-Hamdan led the attack.

The match began at a slow pace with no notable dangerous opportunities, before stopping at the 21st minute with the score at 0-0, as the players headed to the dressing rooms as a precautionary measure due to the weather.

After the match resumed, Al-Akhdar managed to open the scoring through Sultan Mandash just before the end of the first half, following an individual effort inside the penalty area.

In the second half, Abdullah Al-Hamdan increased the score with a second goal after exploiting a defensive error, before Salem Al-Dawsari completed the hat trick in the 88th minute, confirming the superiority of the Saudi national team.

The match witnessed a series of technical changes by the coaching staff, involving a number of players, as part of preparing the largest number of elements before the upcoming challenges.