The RSL International Round-up

Airports across the Kingdom will be abuzz this week as Roshn Saudi League stars return to their clubs from all corners of the globe after another busy international window.

Whether it was the UEFA Nations League, AFC Asian Qualifiers, or CONMEBOL, CONCACAF or CAF qualifiers, the RSL’s best were heavily involved in a wild week of action.

Headlined by the record-breaking Cristiano Ronaldo, here is how the Saudi Arabian top flight’s representatives fared.

UEFA

Al Nassr captain Ronaldo made headlines worldwide when he scored in Portugal’s 2-1 win over Croatia to notch up goal No.900 of his decorated career. A few days later, he made it 901 with an 88th-minute winner against Scotland.

Also featuring for Portugal was Al Hilal star Ruben Neves, who was an unused substitute against Croatia, but came on at half-time against Scotland.

Al Ittihad’s N’Golo Kante, fresh off his return to international football at this summer’s 2024 UEFA Euros, was in action again for France in a week of mixed fortunes, with a loss to Italy and win over Belgium, the latter of which came against Al Qadsiah’s Koen Casteels, who was in goal for both of Belgium’s matches against France and Israel.

Al Nassr’s Aymeric Laporte faced off against new Al Ittihad goalkeeper, Predrag Rajkovic, in a game in which neither Spain nor Serbia found the back of the net. Laporte’s Spain would go on to win their second clash of the window against Switzerland, while Denmark proved too good for a Serbia missing Al Hilal pair Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

Mario Mitaj, another new signing for Al Ittihad, was in action for Albania in League B against both Ukraine and Georgia, while also in Group B there was another RSL match-up when Iceland took on Turkiye featuring Al Orobah’s Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Merih Demiral. Turkiye and Al Ahli defender Demiral got the last laugh with a 3-1 win.

Slovakia duo, Marek Rodak and Norbert Gyomber, of Al Ettifaq and Al Kholood respectively, enjoyed a fruitful window with back-to-back victories over Estonia and Azerbaijan in League C of the UEFA Nations League.Meanwhile, Damac’s Romanian duo, Florin Nița and national-team captain Nicolae Stanciu, also enjoyed a successful week with wins over Kosovo and Lithuania to put Romania top of Group 2 in League C.

AFC

It was a mixed international window for Saudi. After a shock 1-1 draw in their Asian Qualifiers opener at home against Indonesia, things were looking bleak when they were both a goal and a man down against China. However, a stunning comeback secured by Hassan Kadesh’s 90th-minute winner – the Al Ittihad defender also got the equaliser - saw the Green Falcons collect all three points in Dalian.

Elsewhere, Al Wehda’s Craig Goodwin suffered a frustrating start to the Third Round of Asian Qualifiers after Australia suffered a shock loss to Bahrain, before following it up with a 0-0 draw in Jakarta against Indonesia to leave the Socceroos facing an uphill battle, even at this early stage.

There was better news, though, for Iraqi duo, Ibrahim Bayesh (Al Riyadh) and Youssef Amyn (Al Wehda), after their side took home four points from matches with Oman and Kuwait.

CONMEBOL

It was a frustrating two games for a Uruguay featuring Al Qadsiah’s Nahitan Nandez, who were held to a pair of 0-0 draws against Paraguay and Venezuela, missing their chance to cement their place at the top of CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying.

The same is true of Brazil, with Al Nassr’s new shot-stopper, Bento, consigned to being an unused substitute in a narrow 1-0 win over Ecuador and surprise 1-0 defeat to Paraguay.

Meanwhile, new Al Taawoun striker Lucas Chavez came off the bench for Bolivia in their 4-0 win over Venezuela. Only their second win this campaign, it keeps them in the race for an historic World Cup berth.

CAF

Qualifying for the African Cup of Nations 2025 began in earnest this window, with a slew of RSL stars in action.

In Group A, Comoros, featuring Faiz Selemani (Al Riyadh) and Myziane Maolida (Al Kholood), started with a pair of draws against Gambia and Madagascar. It was another RSL representative who thwarted them in their 1-1 draw with Gambia, with Al Taawoun’s Musa Barrow equalising on the stroke of half-time.

Group B saw two RSL heavyweights face off when Morocco took on Gabon, which pitted Al Hilal’s brick wall, goalkeeper Yassine Bono, square off against Al Qadsiah’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. While the Al Khobar club’s summer signing put one past Bono, it was Morocco who had the last laugh in a 4-1 win.

Not to be deterred, Aubameyang was on the scoresheet again four days later in a 2-0 win over Central African Republic.

In Group E, a trio of Algerians, Riyad Mahrez (Al Ahli), Houssem Aouar (Al Ittihad) and Amir Sayoud (Al Raed), saw game time as Algeria started with a perfect two wins from two against Equatorial Guinea and Liberia, with Aouar even getting on the scoresheet in the 2-0 victory against the former.

In the same group are Togo, who include Al Khaleej’s Khaled Narey. The forward started both games for the West African nation as they played out a pair of draws against Liberia (1-1) and Equatorial Guinea (2-2).

Defending AFCON champions, Cote d'Ivoire, who boast in their ranks Al Ahli’s Franck Kessie and Al Orobah’s Jean Michael Seri, had little trouble recording a pair of 2-0 wins, against Zambia and Chad, in Group G, while Malian midfielder, Aliou Dieng, who is spending the 2024-25 RSL season on loan at Al Kholood, played the full 90 minutes in both games against Mozambique and Eswatini.

One of last season’s revelations, Damac forward Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, came off the bench for Cameroon in their 1-0 win over Namibia in Group J.

Senegal’s team was stacked with RSL talent, with Sadio Mane (Al Nassr), Edouard Mendy (Al Ahli), Kalidou Koulibaly (Al Hilal) and Habib Diallo (Damac) all featuring across their two matches against Burkina Faso and Burundi, with Mane finding the back of the net against a Burkina Faso side featuring new Al Riyadh striker Mohamed Konate.

CONCACAF

Al Qadsiah’s Julian Quinones faced the long trip back to North America for a pair of friendlies against New Zealand and Canada. The 27-year-old, who last month scored twice on RSL debut, started in the 3-0 victory over New Zealand, before being an unused substitute against Canada.

Jamaica, meanwhile, opened their CONCACAF Nations League campaign with both Damion Lowe (Al Okhdood) and Demarai Gray (Al Ettifaq) playing two matches as their side drew 0-0 with Cuba and defeated Honduras 2-1.