World Cup 2026: Is Billions Flooding Saudi Pro League Helping National Team?

Apart from defender Saud Abdulhamid, who plays in France with Lens, the starting XI against Uruguay all play their club football in Saudi Arabia.

Known as the Green Falcons, the team is made up of a mix of youth and experience.

34-year-old Al Dawsari, who captains the national team, is playing in his third World Cup after scoring those goals in the 2018 and 2022 editions.

Musab Al Juwar is an exciting young playmaker who showed his value to the team in qualifying, providing the most assists (3).

The 22-year-old is being tipped as a mainstay of the team for next year, while Abdullah Al Amri, who scored against Uruguay, and Abdullah Al Khybery are both Ronaldo’s team-mates at Al-Nasr.

“The Saudi league is better than MLS (North American Major League Soccer),” Ronaldo said after moving to Saudi Arabia in 2023. He recently scored his 100th goal in the Saudi Pro League.

Al Amri became the first defender to score for Saudi Arabia at the World Cup, his strike representing the country’s first goal from a corner in the competition.

His only previous international goal came on his debut in a friendly against Kuwait in March 2021.

Saudi Arabia opened the scoring in a World Cup match for the first time since a 1-0 win over Belgium in 1994. They had failed to score an opening goal in their previous 16 matches in the competition.

More than £700m has been spent on the likes of Neymar, Benzema and former Manchester City and Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez, who joined Ronaldo in the ambitious football nation three years ago.

Means move to Saudi Arabia in 2023.

“Fortunately, I can say the Saudi league is a very good league, and everyone in the world has seen it,” said the former Liverpool forward.

“So, for me, as long as I’m doing my best and I’m enjoying myself every minute, that’s more important.”

Money is still flowing in with overseas signings but compared to the 2023 peak, more focus is being placed on bringing in young players with sell-on value.

According to sources in Riyadh, there are still funds for a proper experienced superstar like Mohamed Salah.

The Egyptian, who left Liverpool, wanted Al-Ittihad – but only if the price was right.