Al Nassr Football Club (Arabic: نادي النصر لكرة القدم, romanized: nādī al-naṣr li-kurat al-qadam, lit. 'Victory Football Club') is a Saudi-Arabian professional football club based in Riyadh. The club competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of Saudi Football. Al Nassr are one of three teams to have participated in all seasons of the Saudi Pro League since its establishment, Al Nassr is also a multi-sports club which includes handball, basketball, E-sports, volleyball for both men and women of all ages.
Al Nassr have won 28 official titles across multiple competitions.[3] In domestic competitions, they have won the Saudi Pro League nine times, three Crown Prince's Cup and three Saudi Federation Cup titles, six King's Cup titles, and two Super Cup titles. At the continental level they earned an Asian double in 1998 by claiming both the Asian Cup Winners' Cup & Asian Super Cup, At the regional level the club won two GCC Club Cup titles and one Arab Club Champions Cup title. The club has a long-standing rivalry with city rivals Al-Hilal whom they contest the Riyadh derby with, the most followed derby in the country.
Al Nassr signed global superstar Cristiano Ronaldo in January 2023, a move that has been credited for revolutionizing Saudi Arabian football. Ronaldo's presence in Saudi Arabia has been cited as a cultural phenomenon, setting the foundation for numerous top level European league players moving to the Saudi Pro League, and generating mass exposure on Saudi Arabian football.[4] Al Nassr also contributed to the Saudi national team success on the continental and regional level , as the national team all-time leading goal scorer is Majed Abdullah, an Al Nassr player, and a legend that was made in the youth sector of Al Nassr as well as many other big names in Saudi football.
Al Nassr was established in 1955 by the Al-Ja'ba brothers. Training took place in an old playground at Gashlat Al-Shortah, west shirts. In addition to the Al-Ja'ba brothers, Ali and Al-Owais, Prince Abdul Rahman bin Saud Al Saud became the head of Al Nassr, he spent more than 39 years as the president for 3 stints until his death. His love of the team made him accept the challenge of being the president of a second-division club and turning it into a champion, and therefore, he is known as Al-Nassr's Godfather. They were promoted to the first division in 1963. During the 1970s and 1980s, the club won four Saudi Premier League titles, Five King's Cups, two Crown Prince Cups, and one Federation Cup. The team's success was built around the "Saudi Golden Trio" of Majed Abdullah, Fahd Al-Herafy and Mohaisn Al-Jam'aan.
In the 1990s (year), Al Nassr managed to win two further Saudi Premier League titles in the 1993-1994 and 1994–1995 seasons, the 1990 King's Cup and the 1997-1998 Federation Cup. Towards the end of Majed Abdullah's career, he still wasn't able to lift the ultimate prize in UAFA region; the Arab Club Champions Cup while the other top clubs in Saudi already succeeded in doing this. Despite that, Al Nassr managed to triumph in the continental tournaments. The 37-year-old striker, Majed Abdullah at the time, managed to win two GCC Club Cups, one Asian Cup Winners' Cup and one Asian Super Cup. Majed Abdullah announced his retirement on 12 April 1998 following Al-Nassr's win in the 1998 Asian Cup Winner's Cup against Suwon Samsung Bluewings from South Korea in front of 70,000 fans in Riyadh. Majed retired at 39 years old as the all-time top scorer of the Saudi League with 189 goals and is also Al-Nassr's all-time top scorer with 260 goals, a record that was considered untouchable until the coming of Abderrazak Hamdallah.
After becoming champion of the Asian Super Cup, Al-Nassr was eligible to represent the AFC region in the first FIFA Club World Cup. In that championship Al-Nassr played against Corinthians, Real Madrid and Raja Casablanca and finished 3rd in the group, the club became the first team to officially represent Asia in an international tournament, which was held in Brazil from 5 January to 14 January, in the year 2000. The nickname "The Global One (Al-Alami)" was obtained following their respective participation in the Club World Cup. Al Nassr won the FIFA Fair Play Award and 6th place following the end of the Club World Cup and was the first team in the world to win the award.[5]
After the Golden Trio's retirement, Al Nassr's fresh squad at the time made an impressive performance during their first run in the FIFA Club World Cup. The Club then went on to sign some internationally recognized players, such as Ivory Coast's Fadel Keïta and former Barcelona Attacking Midfielder Julio César Baldivieso.
Despite the expensive signings at the time, Al-Nassr failed to keep their position in the league and soon received some major setbacks. Things got worse as the next season went by. In 2006–07, the club only managed to avoid relegation on their last day of the season, which prompted honorary members, including Majed Abdullah, to intervene. Their plan was to begin an effective long-term plan to restructure the management this period was called the Great Setback as the club at the time lost its place in the top during this period rivals Al-Hilal got more wins against Al-Nassr then ever before and broke the record for most wins in the derby which was held by Al-Nassr for many years.
After a major overhaul of playing staff, Al Nassr went on to win the Federation Cup 2008 against city rivals, Al-Hilal. In the next season, Al Nassr made a record-breaking transfer by signing young Mohammad Al-Sahlawi from Al Qadsiah in 2009 for SR32 million ($8 million) fee, breaking Yasser Al-Qahtani's record transfer to Al Hilal from the same team as Sahlawi.
Newly reformed Al Nassr put lots of hope on their young striker's shoulders. In his first season with Al-Nassr, Al-Sahlawi scored 21 goals in 36 matches and received the Young Player of the Year award from STC. However, the club only finished third in 2009–10. Despite that, Al Nassr were eligible to secure a place in the Asian Champions League for the following season.
Their second match in the 2011 AFC Champions League were against Uzbekistan club Pakhtakor, which resulted in a 2–2 draw with the decisive goal coming from Bader Al-Mutawa, a loaned player from a Kuwaiti club who was also part of the Kuwaiti military. In the second match against Esteghlal, Al Nassr managed to secure their first 3 points by winning 2–1, with Hussein Abdulghani scoring. In the third match, Al Nassr was defeated by Al Sadd with them scoring 1 goal by Lee Jung-Soo.
Once again Al Nassr was pitted against Al Sadd from Qatar with Abdulghani clutching 1 goal to force a draw result. In the fifth match however, Al Nassr secured a big victory against Pakhtakor with Saud Hamood and Sahlawi each scoring 1 goal, while Al-Mutawa scored 2 goals. In the final group stage game, Al Nassr were beaten by Esteghlal 2–1 with Al-Mutawa scoring for the club again. Al Nassr narrowly avoided elimination by getting 2nd position in their group.
In the round of sixteen however, Al Nassr's dream to win a continental competition again since the time of Majed Abdullah perished when Zob Ahan defeated Al Nassr 4–1, with Bader once again listing his name in goal chart. Shortly after the continental campaign was over, Bader chose to depart to Kuwait to return to his club and resume military duties. In his short time with Al Nassr, he managed to make a good record by scoring 5 goals, one of the top ten highest scorers in AFC during 2011.
In 2010–12, Al Nassr saw itself in the King Cup. In the 2010–12 season, the Al Nassr coach, Francisco Maturana, aimed for the club to become the Saudi giant it once was. Once again Al Nassr were denied to become champions in the final of the Crown Prince Cup match, where Al-Hilal defeated them in a penalty shootout.
In the 2013–14 season, the club coach was replaced with Jose Daniel Carreno. Al Nassr then went on a 22-game win streak without defeat and almost became the second club in Saudi to win a treble by winning against city rivals Al Akhdhoud in both league and Crown Prince cups. This secured their place for the 2015 AFC Champions League following the astonishing accomplishment.
The 2010s marked the growth of football in most Asian countries, both in league quality and their national teams. The AFC Champions League also started to spark interest among football enthusiasts worldwide.
In the 2014–15 season, Al Nassr continued to defend their title as champions, by winning the league. However the team failed to get their treble after losing in the King's Cup final, as well as only reaching the Crown Prince Cup's semi-final. Many fans felt let down by the club after losing in the group stage of the AFC Champions League against Bunyodkor from Uzbekistan, Al Duhail and Persepolis.
Al Sahlawi, who was 27 years old at the time was only able to score 25 goals from his 37 appearances that season. For these reasons, the coach was replaced by the former Colombian goalkeeper Rene Higuita. Even with him training the team, Al Nassr still failed to break through the AFC Champions League. After being defeated by Al Duhail and Zob Ahan, Al Nassr finally defeated their opponent Bunyodkor back to back.
The start of the 2016–2017 season marked the transfers of two Croatian players into the club: Ivan Tomecak and Marin Tomasov, who were loaned to Al Nassr. Abdullah Madu, a new center-back at the time also started playing with the club. In this season however, the club only got 3rd position in the Roshn Saudi League, behind their rival Al Ahli and city rival Al Hilal.
Al Nassr only finished second in the Crown Prince Cup that season, losing to Al Hilal once more. They were also runner-up to Al Ahli in the final of Kings Cup. Al Nassr failed to qualify for the AFC Champions League 2017 and the AFC Champions League 2018. In the 2015–2016 season, Sahlawi scored 10 goals in his 29 appearances. In the season 2016–2017, Sahlawi scored 11 goals in 27 appearances, and in the next season 12 goals from 24 appearances.
Al Nassr coach Gustavo Quinteros from Bolivia, decided to sign Wingback Sultan Al Ghannam on 12 March 2018 for a free transfer from Al Faisaly. Ghannam quickly proved his talent by becoming a key player in the defense and offense. The club also signed arguably the two best Moroccan Players at the time, Abderrazek Hamdallah and Nordin Amrabat. Both of them joined in the Saudi Pro League on 16 July and 23 August 2018.
Hamdallah, nicknamed The Executioner proved himself to be a menace when he made his debut against Al Qadsiah, making two assists. In his second match, he scored his first goal for the club against Al Taawoun. After this, Sahlawi's position as club favourite striker began to slowly shift into Hamdallah as the former Chinese Super League star player adapted with his teammates. The Moroccan forward broke the record since the league became professional in 2007 and carried his team to qualify for 2019 AFC Champions League by defeating FK AGMK.
In the 2019 AFC Champions League, Al Nassr managed to secure 2nd position in the group stage just below Zob Ahan and advanced past the round of sixteen with Hamdallah scoring. In the quarter-final, Al Nassr was defeated by Al Sadd 4–3. Hamdallah scored 4 goals in the 2019 AFC Champions League.
Despite the bad start due to a previous ankle injury, Hamadallah was able to end his first season in the Saudi Pro League as the top scorer after impressively scoring 34 goals. By this time, Hamdalllah had completely replaced Sahlawi as the main striker.
In the 2018–19 Season, he won the league title with his team. He scored a record of 34 goals with his teammate Nordin Amrabat. He scored in the final match against Al Batin. On 3 January 2019, Hamdallah scored his first hat-trick for the club against Al Jandal in the Round of 64 in the 2019 King Cup.
10 days later, he scored a super hat-trick against Al Ansar. He scored consecutive super hat-tricks against Al Fayha in the Round of 16. On 27 April 2019, Hamdallah scored a double in a 4–2 loss in the semi-final against Al Ittihad of the 2019 King Cup. By the end of 2019, Hamdallah managed to beat several stars such as Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi as the world's top scorer, noted by IFFHS, after reaching 57 goals in the year. Al Sahlawi also left the club to join Al Shabab.
On 4 January 2020, Hamdallah scored in a 1–1 draw against Al Taawoun to win the 2019 Saudi Super Cup. On 30 January 2021, Hamdallah scored in a 3–0 victory against rivals Al Hilal to win the 2020 Saudi Super Cup.
Al Nassr was eligible to join the 2020 AFC Champions after winning one of the domestic cups and the league. As the Nassrawi enter the Group Stage, Al Nassr equalize in a 2–2 draw with Al Sadd from Qatar, with Hamdallah scoring one of the 2 goals. In the next match against Al Ain from UAE, Hamdallah scored again. In the third match, Hamdallah scored double in a 2–0 win against Iranian club Sepahan, and in the next consecutive match against the same team, Hamdallah scored again and gave an assist to his fullback teammate Abdullah Madu.
In the later match against Al Sadd, the team drew 1–1 before a loss afterward due to the opponent forward Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba single goal for Al Ain. After reaching the knockout stage in the round of sixteen, Hamdallah scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory against Al Taawoun FC, and the club danced to the next stage. Al Nassr meets their old rival, Al Ahli, in the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League. The Riyadh and Jeddah Clubs have a long history of rivalry. Al Nassr won in their "Classico" after Gonzalo Nicolas Martines and Abdulfatah Asiri each scored a goal, with Hamdallah creating key moments for both to score.
Al Nassr, however, lost in the semi-finals after a dramatic penalty shootout against Iranian club Persepolis, ending their dream of lifting the AFC Champions League cup. Despite that, Hamdallah managed to lift the Asian Champions League golden boot, tying with Junior Negrao with 7 goals, but winning due to having more assists. Despite this, the manager was dissatisfied with Hamdallah's performance.
Al Nassr officially terminated Hamdallah's contract on 23 November 2020. However, Hamdallah was still allowed to play for his remaining time at the club. Al Nassr went on to scout for a suitable club executioner replacement, and at the same time, many European players who previously signed for the Chinese Super League were quitting due to outrageous policies for foreign players. This was seen by many other Asian Clubs as a golden opportunity to snatch talented players for a cheap price.
Before joining Al Nassr, Talisca was the winner of the 2019 Chinese Super League for his club Guangzhou Evergrande. The 27-year-old winger officially joined Al Nassr on 17 May 2021 with a reported transfer fee of $9.5 million. On 8 June 2021, Vincent Aboubakar, a player from Cameroonian striker, signed for Al Nassr for a reported transfer fee of $6 million. Both of these new top players made their debut in the second leg of the Saudi league season.
Talisca and Vincent Aboubakar made their debut in the match against Damac on 13 August 2021, in which Aboubakar, Talisca, and Hamdallah each scored 1 in a 4–1 victory. In the next match, Talisca scored the sole goal against Al Faisaly, which further solidified Talisca's role for the club in the next matches. Hamdallah played his final match for the club in a 1–0 loss against Ettifaq FC in which Filip Kiss from Slovakia clinched the victory for his team.
Jalolidin Masharipov, who was previously loaned to Shabab Al Ahli from UAE returned to Al Nassr. The Uzbekistan national team Midfielder made his first appearance in a 0–1 victory against Al Fateh on 1 January 2022. Despite the team's best effort under the leadership of Miguel Ángel Russo, the team still doesn't manage to lift a single trophy in the season. For this reason, the coach was replaced by Rudi Garcia.
Rudi implemented a major overhaul and signed some new players, including prolific Villareal Fullback Alvaro Gonzalez Soberon, who at the time was a free agent. With a strong set of players, the coach aimed for a domestic treble, which so far only Ettifaq had done. Talisca scored his first hat-trick for the club in a league match, helping his side to a 4–1 away league victory against Al Raed, and he became the League top scorer before Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival.
_Persepolis_F.C._v_Al_Nassr_FC,_19_September_2023_14_(cropped).jpg/1280px-(Tehran)_Persepolis_F.C._v_Al_Nassr_FC,_19_September_2023_14_(cropped).jpg)
On 30 December 2022, Al Nassr signed Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portuguese player left Manchester United by mutual agreement. Ronaldo's contract runs for two-and-a-half years until summer 2025, with a total salary of €200 million per year, thought to be the highest ever paid to a professional footballer. He made an immediate impact on the global following of the club, with their Social media accounts growing to unbelievable numbers.[6] Al Nassr finished in second place in the 2022–23 season.
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The Arab Club Champions Cup is a seasonal club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by top clubs from the Arab world.
On 28 July 2023, just one day after Al Nassr finished their Japan World Tour in friendly matches against Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain F.C. the Al Nassr main squad faced their opponent, Al Shabab in the group stage of Arab Club Champions Cup which resulted in a 0–0 draw. Al Nassr's success came later when facing US Monastir, in which Ronaldo scored a goal in a 4–1 victory. In the final match in the group stage against Zamalek from Egypt, Ronaldo managed to equalize in the 87th minute securing the club their place in the next stage with a 1–1 draw.
On 6 August 2023, Al Nassr faced Raja Casablanca in the first one-legged knockout game, in which they won 3–1 to reach the next round. In the semifinal on 9 August 2023, Ronaldo secured their position in the final for the first time in the championship history after scoring a penalty against Al Shorta from Iraq winning 1–0.
On 12 August 2023, the Arab Club Champions Cup final was played. Al Nassr who were 1–0 down to Al Hilal picked up a red card in the 71st min. Just 3 mins after, Cristiano Ronaldo scored, making it 1-1, sending the final to extra time. With just 10 men, Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the 98th minute to secure a 2–1 comeback against Al Hilal in the final. Ronaldo finished the top scorer of the tournament with 6 goals and won the Golden Boot, while Nawaf Al-Aqidi won the Golden Glove.
Following the move of Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer of 2023, ex-European team players Otávio, Sadio Mané, Aymeric Laporte, Seko Fofana, Marcelo Brozovic, Aziz Behich and Alex Telles joined the club.
At the end of the 2023 year, Al Nassr were 2nd in the league, trailing only Al Hilal. They finished 1st and unbeaten in their AFC Champions League group drawing Saudi Club Al Fayha in the Round of 16. Talisca currently sits 1st in the golden boot standings of the AFC Champions League with 8 goals in just the group stage. Al Nassr has qualified for the semi-finals of the King's Cup after beating Saudi heavyweights Al Shabab 5–1.
The IFFHS recognized Cristiano Ronaldo as the global top scorer, finishing the 2023 calendar year with 54 goals. As of February 2024, he has 30 goals in the first half of the season, scoring in every competition.
Before the second half of the season, Al Nassr were supposed to go on a China Tour facing Shanghai Shenhua on 24 January and Zhejiang Professional on 28 January but the tour was deleyed and to be held in a future date. Al Nassr faced Saudi rivals, Al Hilal and MLS side Inter Miami in the Riyadh Season Cup. The Cup ended with Al Nassr facing Al Hilal on 8 February 2024. Al Nassr started the second half of the season with an AFC Champions League match against Saudi team Al Fayha on 12 January.
Al Nassr were knocked out of the 2023-24 AFC Champions League by Al-Ain FC in the quarter finals, losing 1–0 in the first leg and winning 4–3 in the second leg, which led a 4-4 aggregate to penalties, which they lost 1–3.
They also lost the King's Cup on Penalties, and were Saudi Super Cup Semi finalists, and finished 2nd in the league with 82 points the highest points in the club history. Cristiano Ronaldo won the golden boot and broke the record for most goals scored in a single SPL season. However, fans were angry after losing every domestic title and getting knocked out of the Champions league at the start of 2024–25 season. The president Ibrahim al-Muhaidib resigned for not being given enough control over the club, and manager Luis Castro was replaced in September 2024 by Stefano Pioli.[7] On 20 September, Al-Nassr announced the launching of a TV channel for the club under the name of "NASSR TV", in partnership with DAZN. The channel is first of its kind in the country and the region.
Al Nassr (Arabic: النصر) is the Arabic word for "victory", clubs with the same name are found in Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, and Libya but the Saudi Arabian club was the first to take the name.
The club's logo represents the map of Arabia with yellow and blue colours. Yellow for the sand of the Arabian deserts and blue for the water in the Arab Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea surrounding the Arabian Peninsula. Recently, the old logo has been replaced by a "modernised" version, but it is still heavily influenced by the old club logo. The new logo only represents the football team while the old logo represents the club as a whole.
Team colours
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Al Nassr have won a combined total of 28 official championships and 46 overall, In Saudi football there's a project to document the country's football history, and in this project a lot of clubs want to add trophies that have been won by the club in the past, so depending on the outcome of the project, Al Nassr and many other clubs may have more official trophies. The club holds various domestic and international records.[10] The club is the first Asian club to play in the FIFA Club World Cup.[11][5] On a continental level, Al Nassr appeared on 4 Asian finals, with two victories, and two times as runners-up.[12][13][14]
Key: PO – Play-off round; 1R/2R – First/Second round; R16 – Round of 16; QF – Quarter-final; SF – Semi-final;
Cristiano Ronaldo
Sadio Mané
Majed Abdullah
Hristo Stoichkov
Alex Telles Bento Petros Talisca
Marcelo Brozović
Seko Fofana Ghislain Konan Otávio Monteiro
Aymeric Laporte Álvaro González Soberón
Kim Jin-su
Abderrazak Hamdallah Nordin Amrabat
Moussa Saïb Denílson Luiz Gustavo Paulo Nunes Toninho
Hossam Ghaly
Ohene Kennedy
Angelos Charisteas
Fabián Estoyanoff
Hysen Zmijani Youssouf Fofana
Bader Al-Mutawa
Ahmed Musa
Amad Al-Hosni
Roberto Palacios
Adrian Mierzejewski
David Ospina
Carlos Tenorio
Julio César Baldivieso Mohammad Abdeli Hussein Abdulghani Fuad Anwar Mohaisen Al-Jam'an Fahad Al-Bishi Yousef Khamees Mohammad Al-Sahlawi Waleed Abdullah Abdullah Madu Sultan Al-Ghannam Hassan Al-Raheb Yahya Al-ShehriAl Nassr youth sector is the youth set-up of Al Nassr FC, The sector operates the system for boys from the age of nine upwards including teams and an academy.
The club mascot is "Knight" which represents the old Knights of Najd.