RSL 101 - Get to know the Saudi top flight

Superstar names, World Cup-winning coaches, emerging young talent and fans providing an atmosphere that has to be seen to be believed, there has never been a better time to start following the Roshn Saudi League as the 2024-25 season gets under way on August 22.

If you’re new to the RSL and want a quick explainer on how it all works, look no further.

Format

The Roshn Saudi League features 18 teams from all corners of the country, having increased from 16 teams in 2022-2023.

The league works using a traditional league structure, whereby every team will play each other home and away across a 34-game season that will run from August through until May, with breaks for the FIFA international windows in September, October, November and March.

In the first half of the season, teams will play either nine home games and eight away matches or eight home games and nine away matches. The reverse will apply in the second half of the campaign, ensuring every team will play 17 home fixtures and 17 away fixtures across the season.

Teams

Just like last season, the 2024-25 campaign will feature 18 teams. While the three major cities - Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam - are all represented, the league also comprises teams from 10 other cities from all over the country.

Al Wehda are based in the holy city of Mecca, while Damac and Al Okhdood are the two sides from the country’s south. Newly promoted Al Orobah are the northernmost club in the league – they are based in the Al Jouf Province.

Al Taawoun and Al Raed reside in Buraidah, while Al Kholood are in neighbouring Ar Rass, north of Riyadh, with Al Fayha in between.

It’s the clubs from the major cities that attract most attention, however. Riyadh is serviced by four teams, including last season’s title protagonists Al Hilal and Al Nassr – the former are the reigning RSL champions – as well as 2011-12 champions, Al Shabab, and Al Riyadh.

Jeddah is split between the black and yellow of Al Ittihad and the green and white of Al Ahli, while the Eastern Province features Al Ettifaq, Al Qadsiah, Al Fateh and Al Khaleej, dotting four different cities in Dammam, Al Khobar, Al Ahsa and Saihat respectively.

Champions

Al Hilal are the defending champions after completing a remarkable undefeated season in 2023-24, eventually finishing 14 points clear of their nearest rivals, Al Nassr. It was a sixth league title in the past eight seasons for the capital outfit, making them quite comfortably Saudi Arabia’s most successful club.

Coached by Portuguese Jorge Jesus, not only do Al Hilal boast some of the league’s best international talent, such as Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly and Yassine Bounou, they’re also home to a lot of the finest Saudi players. None more so than Salem Al Dawsari, the reigning AFC Player of the Year, who is best remembered for his spectacular winner against Argentina at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Qualifying for Asia

Like all the major leagues around the world, the leading clubs at the end of the season qualify for continental competition. In Asia, that comes in the form of the recently re-formatted AFC Champions League Elite and AFC Champions League Two competitions.

The Roshn Saudi League is the No.1-ranked league in Asia by the Asian Football Confederation, meaning it receives the maximum allocation of slots for the two continental competitions.

That comes in the form of three direct qualifying places for the AFC Champions League Elite - the premier club competition in Asia that features 24 of the best teams in Asia - and one direct entry into the AFC Champions League Two.

The three teams to qualify for the ACL Elite are the champions of the RSL, its runners-up, and the winners of the King’s Cup. The team to finish third in the RSL qualifies for the ACL Two.

In 2023-24, as Al Hilal won both the RSL and King’s Cup, both second and third-placed teams (Al Nassr and Al Ahli) qualified directly for the ACL Elite, while the fourth-placed team, Al Taawoun, qualified for the ACL Two.

Promotion / Relegation

Like almost all domestic leagues around the world, there is jeopardy for those who fail to deliver on the pitch in the form of relegation.

Sitting underneath the Roshn Saudi League is the Saudi First Division League, also known as the Yelo First Division League. Each season, the bottom three teams at the end of the RSL campaign are automatically relegated to the First Division League. Simultaneously, the top two teams from the second tier earn automatic spots in the RSL next season, while teams placed third to sixth in the First Division League compete in a play-off format for the remaining ticket in the top division.

At the end of the 2023-24 RSL season, Abha, Al Tai and Al Hazem were all relegated, while coming the other way, Al Qadsiah, Al Orobah and Al Kholood all achieved promotion to the 2024-25 RSL.

Derbies

Given the scope of the RSL, there are plenty of inter-city rivalries that throw out some of the standout fixtures of the season. Chief among those, there’s the Riyadh Derby between Al Hilal and Al Nassr, the Jeddah Derby between Al Ittihad and Al Ahli, and the Eastern Province Derby, between Al Ettifaq and Al Qadsiah.

New to this season, the three fixtures will all fall during the “Magic Round” in Matchweek 9, meaning they’re played across the same weekend.

With Al Shabab and Al Riyadh also being based in the capital, Riyadh is home to a total of six derbies in total, while Buraidah plays host to the increasingly popular Qassim derby between Al Raed and Al Taawoun.

The Clasico

It may not be a derby, but the Saudi Clasico remains one of the highlights of the RSL – and indeed Asian football. The fixture pits against one another Al Hilal and Al Ittihad, two of the most decorated and best supported clubs in the Kingdom, and the nation's only two AFC Champions League winners.

The teams - they are the two most recent Saudi champions - meet for the first time in the 2024-25 RSL in Riyadh on Matchweek 4. Last season, the opening Clasico of the campaign was a 4-3 thriller. It truly is a clash not to be missed.

Other cross-city rivalries include Al Nassr versus A Ahli, Al Ettifaq versus Al Fateh and Al Wehda versus Al Ittihad, the latter known as the 'Old Derby' pitting the two oldest clubs in Saudi Arabia.

Fans

The RSL is home to some of the most passionate and dedicated fans on the planet. From mesmerising tifo displays, to ear-splitting singing and chanting, supporters provide a spectacular backdrop to the incredible action taking place on the pitch.

The battle in the stands, as both sets of fans try to outdo the other, is almost as intense as the action on the pitch. It provides a glimpse into the incredible passion Saudi Arabians have for the beautiful game.