Mohammed Al-Owais

Mohammed Khalil Ibrahim Al-Owais (Arabic: مُحَمَّد خَلِيل إِبْرَاهِيم الْعُوَيْس; born 10 October 1991) is a Saudi Arabian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for the Saudi Arabia national team and Al-Hilal. He is known for his quick reflexes and vigilance in goal.

Club career

On 26 July 2017, Al-Owais joined Al-Ahli on a free transfer.

On 30 January 2022, Al-Owais joined Al-Hilal.

International career

2015-2016: FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers

Al-Owais was called up to the senior Saudi Arabia squad for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Timor-Leste in September 2015. He made his debut against Japan in 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification on 15 November 2016.

2018: FIFA World Cup 2018 performance

In May 2018, he was named in Saudi Arabia's preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He originally served as the second choice goalkeeper behind regular Abdullah Al-Mayouf. However, Al-Mayouf performed horribly in the opener against Russia as Saudi Arabia suffered a humiliating 5–0 defeat. This led to Al-Owais being promoted as the first-choice keeper instead. Al-Owais played in Saudi Arabia's 1–0 loss to Uruguay, where he made some good saves even though that was not enough to save Saudi Arabia from elimination. This was Al-Owais' only game in Russia.

2019: AFC Asian Cup 2019 performance

Al-Owais was included in Saudi Arabia's squad for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates. However, he produced a rather mediocre performance, only keeping a clean sheet twice, against weaker North Korea and Lebanon, as Saudi Arabia won both games. Against Qatar and Japan though, he conceding three goals, especially against the latter as his side lost an important game in the round of sixteen and thus Saudi Arabia crashed out.

2022: Impressive performance at the 2022 FIFA World Cup

On 22 November 2022, during a 2022 FIFA World Cup match against Argentina, Al-Owais was named player of the match for his goalkeeping performance, which contributed to a historic 2–1 upset victory for Saudi Arabia. Along with his teammates, Al-Owais was reportedly gifted a Rolls-Royce as a result of the team’s significant victory. However, he then conceded twice to Poland, becoming the victim of Robert Lewandowski's first World Cup goal, as Saudi Arabia succumbed to the Poles and thus lost the advantage gained from the shock win against Argentina.

Later, Al-Owais also gained prominence for his acrobatic saves against Mexico, which contributed to the elimination of Mexico from the group stage for the first time since 1978. However, Saudi Arabia still suffered a 2–1 defeat to the Mexicans in the end and as for the result, despite heroic efforts by Al-Owais, his team failed to progress from the group stage once again as Saudi Arabia stood bottom.