A video published on social media on Monday night appeared to show one of the airplane's engines had caught fire. The Saudi Football Federation denied reports about fire taking place on board of the aircraft carrying the Saudi team. According to the federation, a minor failure occurred and players were not affected.

"You watched the video, we don't know anything else. We did not feel fear, there was no panic either. We fully trusted the pilot and the staff, we were calm, although the images showed that this was an emergency. There was no discomfort, it will not affect us in the game against Uruguay tomorrow," Pizzi told journalists.

Saudi Arabia will face Uruguay at the Rostov Arena on Wednesday. Pizzi's team were thrashed 5-0 by hosts Russia in the World Cup opening game on Thursday.