Saudi Football

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Sat, 2025-10-25 07:31

JEDDAH: Al-Hilal won 2-0 at Al-Ittihad on Friday to silence the reigning champions, reaffirm their title credentials and move into third place in the Saudi Pro League behind Al-Taawoun and early leaders Al-Nassr.

It was a night that pitted two former coaches of Milan’s great rivals against each other, with the visitors’ ex-Inter boss Simone Inzaghi crossing swords with the home side’s Sergio Conceicao, formerly of AC Milan.

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Al-Buraikan strike enough to beat Al-Najma and take Ahli to fourth

Peter Harrison — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 06:48:53 +0000

article author:

Arab News

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Fri, 2025-10-24 09:43

RIYADH: Al-Ahli on Thursday night defeated hosts and newly promoted Al-Najma 1-0 in Buraidah to climb to fourth in the Saudi Pro League table, with the rest of the sixth round of matches still to come this weekend.

The win leaves the Jeddah club with 12 points from six matches, and three behind leaders Al-Nassr, who have played one less match. Al-Najma remain bottom of the table with no points.

Saudi Arabia forward Firas Al-Buraikan scored in the 34th minute to secure all three points at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.

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Saudi Pro League (SPL)

Al-Hilal beat Al-Sadd to stay top of AFC Champions League Elite Group B

Sajjadkk — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 21:38:42 +0000

article author:

Arab News

Wed, 2025-10-22 00:34

RIYADH: Al-Hilal remain top of Group B in the AFC Champions League Elite after a 3-1 home victory over Al-Sadd of Qatar at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on Tuesday night.

The result means they are the only club in the 24-team competition with a 100 percent record of nine points from their opening three matches.

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AFC Champions League Elite

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Al-Hilal

Al-Sadd

Al-Ittihad come from behind to kick-start Champions League campaign

seamus.obuachalla — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 18:59:05 +0000

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Mon, 2025-10-20 21:51

JEDDAH: Al-Ittihad beat Al-Shorta 4-1 on Monday to claim their first win in the AFC Champions League this season, and also hand new coach Sergio Conceicao a welcome first victory in his second game since taking over from sacked Laurent Blanc on Oct. 7.

The pressure was on the 2004 and 2005 continental champions, who had lost their first two group games, prior to Conceicao’s arrival, and it looked like they were in for another tough night in Baghdad against an Iraqi side who caused problems for their visitors throughout.

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SPL Al-ittihad

Special

Saudi’s Al-Dawsari, Takahashi from Japan win Asian player awards

rbksa — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 20:24:51 +0000

article author:

Reuters

Author:

Reuters

ID:

1760646044831578300

Thu, 2025-10-16 23:24

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Salem Al-Dawsari has been named Asian Player of the Year for the second time, with Japan’s Hana Takahashi claiming the women’s award at a gala ceremony in Riyadh on Thursday.
Al-Dawsari, who helped his nation secure qualification for a third consecutive World Cup on Tuesday, reclaimed the award he previously won in 2022 ahead of fellow nominees Akram Afif of Qatar and Malaysia’s Arif Aiman.
“I’m grateful to win this award,” said the Al-Hilal playmaker. Winning it for a second time is special because it came after a huge effort.

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Football

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AFC Player of the Year

Salem Al-dawsari

Al-Hilal

Saudi Arabia book place at 2026 World Cup finals after hard-fought draw with Iraq

daniel.fountain — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 20:46:57 +0000

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Tue, 2025-10-14 23:42

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia secured a place at the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday with a goalless draw against Iraq in Jeddah in the fourth round of the Asian qualifiers. The hard-fought point was enough to give the Green Falcons top spot in Group B and guarantee their seventh appearance at the finals.

While the majority of the 60,000 or so fans in Jeddah were celebrating at the end, the tense and attritional game was far from an easy watch. As such, it was a reflection of much of the qualification campaign that preceded it.

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Update

Renard set for one of the most important matches of his career

Peter Harrison — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 11:46:19 +0000

article author:

SALEH FAREED

Author:

Mon, 2025-10-13 14:42

JEDDAH: Herve Renard, the French coach of the Saudi national team, has said that the Kingdom’s match against Iraq in their 2026 World Cup qualifiers is one of the most important matches of his coaching career.

“We are just 24 hours away from the match, and our goal is clear: qualifying for the World Cup. We must be fully focused to achieve that,” Renard said during a press conference on Monday ahead of the match at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah on Tuesday night.

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Defeat in Jakarta prompted Saudi changes, says coach Renard

rbksa — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 14:00:31 +0000

article author:

Reuters

Author:

Reuters

ID:

1760013331128190100

Thu, 2025-10-09 17:00

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia coach Herve Renard said losing to Indonesia in Jakarta last year had been the spur to make the changes required to his squad that led them to seal a crucial victory over Patrick Kluivert’s side on Wednesday.
The Saudis moved a step closer to automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup with a 3-2 victory over Indonesia in Jeddah as a new-look side avenged November’s 2-0 defeat to move to the top of Group B of qualifying.

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Saudi Arabia in sight of World Cup finals thanks to Al-Shamat strike and Al-Buraikan double

bassam.zaazaa — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 20:40:47 +0000

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Wed, 2025-10-08 23:37

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia came from behind to defeat Indonesia 3-2 on Wednesday and take a giant step toward the 2026 World Cup finals.
Two goals from Firas Al-Buraikan and a fine strike from his Al-Ahli team-mate, Saleh Abu Al-Shamat, at their home ground in Jeddah means a victory over Iraq on Tuesday will ensure Herve Renard’s men make their seventh appearance at the World Cup finals, and even a point might be enough to book their tickets to North America.

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Conceicao named as new coach of Al-Ittihad

rbksa — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 16:26:55 +0000

article author:

AFP

ID:

1759940437900288800

Wed, 2025-10-08 19:22

RIYADH: Former AC Milan manager Sergio Conceicao will take over as coach of Al-Ittihad following the sacking of Laurent Blanc, the Saudi Arabian Pro League club announced on Wednesday.
The Portuguese coach, who also won 52 caps as a player, was revealed in a video on social media titled “The King Rules the Game.”
“Victory is not a choice,” says Conceicao, 50, in the video.

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Coach Herve Renard confident in Saudis’ ability to qualify for a 7th World Cup

bassam.zaazaa — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 16:15:00 +0000

article author:

SALEH FAREED

Author:

Tue, 2025-10-07 19:11

JEDDAH: Saudi national football team head coach Herve Renard is confident his players can qualify for the nation’s seventh World Cup finals since 1994.
Speaking in Jeddah on Tuesday on the eve of their opening match in the fourth round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, against Indonesia, he said: “We’re on the right track, technically.
“We had a training camp in Europe during the last break. Tomorrow is a different match and everyone has hopes of qualifying for the World Cup. I’m confident that we’ll give more than 100 percent to reach the World Cup.

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Football

Saudi national football team

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‘Whole country behind us’: Herve Renard and Saudi Arabia united in World Cup convictions

Arbee — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:00:21 +0000

article author:

Aisha Fareed

Wed, 2025-10-01 12:39

RIYADH: A video for a newly launched campaign, “You Got This,” featuring Saudi national team head coach Herve Renard, begins with a solitary figure running — at first alone, then gradually joined by others, until the crowd itself carries the Frenchman forward.

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Al-Hilal dig deep to make for another win in Asia

Sajjadkk — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 20:02:26 +0000

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Author:

Mon, 2025-09-29 22:58

LONDON: Al-Hilal won 3-2 at Nasaf Qarshi on Monday to make it two out of two in the group stage of the AFC Champions League Elite. The four-time titleholders were deserved winners in Uzbekistan but twice let their lead slip and had to dig deep to take the three points.

Despite a less-than-ideal playing surface in Central Asia, the Saudi giants had the ball in the net after just 90 seconds as Theo Hernandez slid the ball past Abduvohid Nematov, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

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