The Roshn Saudi League will be the highest represented non-European league at Euro 2024 after 14 players from the Kingdom’s top-flight clubs were included in the final squads for the summer tournament, which kicks off in Germany next week.
Champions Al Hilal and runners-up Al Nassr are each sending three players to European football's marquee event, while Al Ettifaq and Al Okhdood will have two representatives there.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the 2023-24 RSL top scorer, will look forward to making a record sixth appearance in the European Championships having made his debut on home soil two decades ago when Portugal finished runners-up. The Al Nassr captain, 39, will be making his 10th consecutive appearance in a major international tournament.
Ronaldo will be accompanied in the Portugal camp by Al Hilal midfielder Ruben Neves, although national team manager Roberto Martinez did withdraw Al Nassr’s Otavio from the final squad because of injury. Otavio had been included on the provisional list.
Meanwhile, a pair of RSL champions will be looking to carry the hopes at the tournament of six million Serbians, with Al Hilal duo Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic spearheading the Eagles’ squad. Between them, they produced 39 goals and 15 assists in Al Hilal’s record-breaking 2023-24 campaign, and they will no doubt look to replicate that form in a Group C that features England, Denmark and Slovenia.
Elsewhere, Damac’s Nicolae Stanciu carries the captain’s armband for Romania, while Al Okhdood defender Andrei Burca has been rewarded for a season in which he was the highest-scoring defender in the RSL, with four goals.
Also, Al Nassr teammates Aymeric Laporte and Marcelo Brozovic find themselves going head-to-head after being included in the Spain and Croatia squads respectively, with both teams competing in Group B alongside Italy and Albania.
Following his return to the France squad for the first time in two years, Al Ittihad midfielder N’Golo Kante has been retained in the final group by coach Didier Deschamps, while Al Ettifaq captain Giorginio Wijnaldum was included in Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side.
Club teammate Jack Hendry prepares to wear the Scotland colours in their second consecutive Euros appearance, with Al Shabab's Yannick Carrasco also part of coach Domenico Tedesco’s Belgium squad.
To round things off, Al Okhdood defender Solomon Kvirkvelia is set to make history for Georgia, who will play at the European Championships for the first time in their history. They are placed in a Group F that includes Al Ahli’s Merih Demiral with Turkey.
List of Roshn Saudi League players called up to Euro 2024
Al Hilal: Ruben Neves (Portugal), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Serbia), Aleksandar Mitrovic (Serbia)
Al Nassr: Aymeric Laporte (Spain), Marcelo Brozovic (Serbia), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Al Ahli: Merih Demiral (Turkey)
Al Ittihad: N’Golo Kante (France)
Al Ettifaq: Jack Hendry (Scotland), Giorginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands)
Al Shabab: Yannick Carrasco (Belgium)
Damac: Nicolae Stanciu (Romania)
Al Okhood: Solomon Kvirkvelia (Georgia), Andrei Burca (Romania)
