The Saudi Olympic team was unable to reach the semi-finals of the AFC U-23 Cup for the third time in the history of its participation in the tournament after losing to Uzbekistan 1-0 on Friday.
The Uzbek national team was able to snatch the qualification ticket after maintaining its lead, which came through Khoisain Nurchayev in the 47th minute. The match witnessed the expulsion of Ayman Yahya in the 70th minute after receiving the second yellow card, before Umarali Rahmunaliyev added the second goal in the 84th minute.
The qualifying tournament for the Olympics, in each doubles edition, began in 2013, when the Saudi team reached the final, which it lost to Iraq by an unanswered goal.
The Saudi national team exited the 2016 edition of the group stage after drawing with Thailand 1-1 and North Korea 3-3 before losing to Japan 2-1.
The Saudi national team continued its early exit again in the 2018 edition, when it tied with Jordan 2-2 and with Iraq with a negative result before losing to Malaysia with an unanswered goal.
In the 2020 edition, the Saudi national team qualified, leading its group with seven points, passing Thailand and Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively, and losing the final to South Korea with an unanswered goal.
The last edition witnessed the first victory for the Saudi Olympic Cup in 2022. After surpassing the groups in the lead with seven points, it defeated Vietnam 2-0 and Australia with the same score before crowning the championship at the expense of Uzbekistan also with the same score.
