In between his Ettifaq managerial stints, he was successful as the Saudi Arabia national team coach, a mission he first started in March 1984.

Al-Zayani was called up by the national federation and asked to travel to Muscat, Oman to replace the sacked Mário Zagallo, coach of the Brazil World Cup-winning team of 1970 that featured Pelé.

Zayani, nonetheless, proved to be up to the task as he oversaw a draw against Kuwait and was victories over the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain as Saudi Arabia finished third in the competition.

In August 1984, he oversaw the Saudi national football team in the Olympic Games finals in Los Angeles, which was considered a significant achievement at the time, but his sights were firmly fixed on the AFC Asian Cup scheduled for December that year.

Al-Zayani's decision to go with youth paid off with the Saudis defeating China 2–0 in the final for their first-ever AFC Asian Cup title.

“It was the start of a great era for us and we became one of the strongest sides in Asia in the following years.” In 2002, after a long career as a coach, Zayani decided to move from the bench to behind-the-desk role, as vice-president of Al-Ittifaq for a certain time.