Top 5 Greatest Saudi Football Players
The best football players from Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia are one of the most successful footballing nations on the Asian continent, and they have won the AFC Asian Cup three times. They have also qualified to the World Cup six time.
Football is growing within the nation, quicker than its neighbours in the Arab Gulf and Middle East. Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that can realistically challenge Eastern Asian nations, except from Iran.
Although Saudi Arabia are not a huge footballing nation historically, they have produced many players that have played a significant role in their history, such as through trophy wins and scoring at World Cups.
In this article, we will rank the top 5 Saudi football players of all-time.
5. Mohammed Noor
Caps: 90
Goals: 8
Mohammed Noor was a creative midfielder who spent the entirety of his career playing in the Saudi Professional League.
He spent practically all of his playing time with Al Ittihad, but due to a series of financial crises at Al-Ittihad in 2013, he was forced to leave. Following this, he relocated to Al-Nassr club for one final season.
Noor is still regarded as one of the best players to ever represent Asia, largely because of his superb ball control, playmaking and dribbling abilities.
In terms of his international career, Noor made some vital contributions, appearing in several World Cups and Asian Championships, as well as playing against Brazil in the semi-final of the Confederations Cup.
His brightest FIFA World Cup moment came when he provided an assist against Tunisia, which earned Saudi Arabia their first point in Germany in 2006.
In the 2002 Arab Cup, Noor netted the winner in added time to beat Bahrain in the final.
4. Mohammad Al-Shalhoub
Caps: 118
Goals: 19
Mohamed Al-Shalhoub played his entire career as a left winger for Al Hilal in the Saudi Professional League, retiring in 2020.
He is regarded as one of the finest Saudi football players in history.
Al-Shalhoub is one of the most accomplished football players in the world, having won 33 championships with Al Hilal and 1 with the Saudi national team.
Al-Shalhoub was chosen as the third best Asian footballer of the year on November 30, 2006, behind Bader Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and Khalfan Ibrahim of Qatar, who was chosen as the finest player in Asia.
He is regarded as a footballing legend in Saudi Arabia!
3. Yousuf Al-Thunayan
Caps: 81
Goals: 20
Yousuf Al-Thunayan also spent the entirety of his senior career at Al-Hilal FC. Al-Thunayyan was a top playmaker, known for his grace, vision, dribbling ability, ball control and technique.
He earned the title "The Philosopher" for his exceptional dribbling skills, imaginative goal scoring and excellent delivery.
As a result, he is widely considered as one of the all-time greatest players as well as the best player in Saudi Arabia and Asia.
The forward also starred in Saudi Arabia’s 1988 and 1996 Asia Cup triumphs, as well as scoring in the FIFA World Cup in 1998, converting a penalty to earn a point against South Africa as he captained the side.
2. Mohamed Al-Deayea
Caps: 178
Al-Deayea represented Saudi Arabia in four FIFA World Cups and holds the record for a goalkeeper with 178 officially recognised caps. He won the inaugural Best Goalkeeper of the Century from Asia title.
He also won the FIFA under-17 World Cup in 1989 at the beginning of his career and was part of the Asian Cup winning team in 1996.
Notably, at club level Al-Deayea won the AFC Champions League in his first season for Al Hilal in 1999/00.
The keeper almost pursued a career outside of football. He initially began playing handball, but his club and his older brother Majed Abdullah persuaded him to switch to football.
Mohammed's early career came with a lot of pressure because he had to step into his brother Abdullah's shoes, an AFC Asian Cup winner and a highly regarded goalkeeper as well.
1. Majed Abdullah
Caps: 117
Goals 72
Abdullah is without doubt the greatest Saudi football player ever, in terms of quality on the pitch and the legacy he left behind.
He was a world-class international goal scorer, scoring 72 goals for Saudi Arabia.
In 1984, 1985 and 1986, he was named Asian Footballer of the Year. In 1984 and 1988, he won the AFC Asian Cup.
He was given the appellation "Arabian Jewel" and has been the league's leading goal scorer six times.
Abdullah was also nominated for International Football Federation of History and Statistics Asia Player of the 20th Century, finishing third place.
Abdullah’s club goalscoring record is nothing short of remarkable, finding the net 189 times in 194 appearances for Al-Nassr.
The prolific striker was regarded so highly by his club and nation that he received a testimonial match against and Real Madrid to bid farewell to his career.
The Spanish giants were just crowned La Liga champions for the 31st time.
The match was held at Al-Nassr's home ground, the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh and legendary Dutchman Arjen Robben netted, as Al Nassr won 4-1 in front of 70,000 fans.
