SOCCER: Saudi’s Abdulhamid to join U.S. Camp after passport theft delay

Saudi Arabia defender Saud Abdulhamid will join the national team’s training camp in the United States on Thursday after resolving a passport issue that delayed his departure.

The 26-year-old was originally scheduled to report to a preparatory camp in Riyadh on Monday before traveling with the squad. However, his passport was stolen during a break-in in Amsterdam, where he had been attending his wedding ceremony with family.

Local media reported that Abdulhamid, who is on loan at Ligue 1 club Lens from Roma, will now link up with coach Georgios Donis’s 30-man preliminary squad in New York.

Abdulhamid expressed gratitude to Saudi authorities for their assistance in securing a replacement passport. Posting on social media platform X, he wrote: “Let’s go to the World Cup.”

Saudi Arabia have already begun a series of training camps in New York and Texas as part of their preparations for the tournament. The team will play friendly matches against Ecuador, Puerto Rico, and Senegal.

They will open their Group H campaign against Uruguay in Miami on June 15, before facing Spain in Atlanta on June 21 and Cape Verde in Houston on June 26. -Reporting by Mohamed Yossry in Cairo, editing by Pritha Sarkar/Reuters