List of foreign Saudi Professional League players

This is a list of foreign players in the Saudi Pro League, which commenced play in 2008. The following players must meet both of the following two criteria:

  1. Have played at least one Pro League game. Players who were signed by Pro League clubs, but only played in cup and/or Asian games, or did not play in any competitive games at all, are not included.
  2. Are considered foreign, i.e., outside Saudi Arabia determined by the following:
A player is considered foreign if his allegiance is not to play for the national team of Saudi Arabia.

More specifically,

  • If a player has been capped on international level, the national team is used; if he has been capped by more than one country, the highest level (or the most recent) team is used.
  • If a player has not been capped on international level, his country of birth is used, except those who clearly indicated to have switched his nationality to another nation.

Clubs listed are those for which the player has played at least one Pro game — and seasons are those in which the player has played at least one Pro League game. Note that seasons, not calendar years, are used. For example, "2008–11" indicates that the player has played in every season from 2008–09 to 2010–11, but not necessarily every calendar year from 2008 to 2011. Therefore, a player should always have a listing under at least two years — for instance, a player making his debut in 2011, during the 2011–12 season, will have '2011–12' after his name. This follows general practice in expressing sporting seasons in Saudi Arabia.

109 of the 207 foreign FIFA-affiliated nations have been represented in the Pro League. On 15 September 2023, Jamaica became the most recent country to be represented, with Andre Gray making his league debut for Al-Riyadh against Al-Hilal.

In bold: players who have played at least one Premier League game in the current season (2023–24), and are still at a club for which they have played. This does not include current players of a Pro League club who have not played a Pro League game in the current season.

Details correct as of 15 September 2023

Albania Albania

Algeria Algeria

In September 2018, Raïs M'Bolhi became the first goalkeeper to win a Player of the Month award.

Angola Angola

Argentina Argentina

Argentina international Éver Banega joined Al-Shabab in 2020

Armenia Armenia

Australia Australia

Brad Jones won the Pro League with Al-Nassr in 2018–19.

Bahrain Bahrain

Belarus Belarus

Belgium Belgium

Benin Benin

Bolivia Bolivia

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina

Brazil Brazil

Victor Simões was the joint top scorer in the 2011–12 season, with 21 goals.
Giuliano won the Pro League with Al-Nassr in 2018–19
Thiago Neves won two Pro League titles with Al-Hilal
Fernando Menegazzo won the Pro League with Al-Shabab in 2011–12
Marquinho won the Pro League with Al-Ahli in 2015–16. He also played for Al-Ittihad during the 2014–15 season.
Maicon won the Pro League with Al-Nassr in 2018–19

Bulgaria Bulgaria

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso

Burundi Burundi

Cameroon Cameroon

Cape Verde Cape Verde

Djaniny currently holds the record for most goals scored in a single match. He scored five goals against Ohod on 11 January 2019.

Central African Republic Central African Republic

Chad Chad

Chile Chile

Ronnie Fernández was the top scorer in 2017–18 with 13 goals.

Colombia Colombia

Comoros Comoros

Congo Republic of the Congo

Costa Rica Costa Rica

Croatia Croatia

Curaçao Curaçao

Until 2010 Netherlands Antilles Netherlands Antilles

Denmark Denmark

DR Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ecuador Ecuador

Egypt Egypt

Mohamed Abdel Shafy won the League once with Al-Ahli in 2015–16.
In June 2017, Essam El Hadary became the first foreign goalkeeper to sign for a Saudi Arabian club.

England England

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea Eritrea

Estonia Estonia

France France

Former France international Bafétimbi Gomis joined Al-Hilal in July 2018

Gabon Gabon

Gambia The Gambia

Georgia Georgia (country)

Germany Germany

Ghana Ghana

Prince Tagoe spent two seasons with Al-Ettifaq

Greece Greece

Giannis Fetfatzidis won the Pro League with Al-Ahli during the 2015–16 season.

GuineaGuinea

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau

Honduras Honduras

Hungary Hungary

Iraq Iraq

Italy Italy

Former Italy international Sebastian Giovinco won two league titles with Al-Hilal.

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast

Jamaica Jamaica

Jordan Jordan

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan

Kenya Kenya

Korea Republic South Korea

Lee Young-pyo won two Pro League titles with Al-Hilal.

Kuwait Kuwait

Lebanon Lebanon

Liberia Liberia

Libya Libya

Lithuania Lithuania

Luxembourg Luxembourg

Madagascar Madagascar

Malawi Malawi

Mali Mali

Mauritania Mauritania

Moldova Moldova

Montenegro Montenegro

Morocco Morocco

In 2018–19, Abderrazak Hamdallah won the Player of the Year award and was the top scorer with a record breaking 34 goals.
Hicham Aboucherouane was the joint-top goalscorer in the Pro League in 2008–09, scoring 12 goals for Al-Ittihad.

Mozambique Mozambique

Netherlands Netherlands

Niger Niger

Nigeria Nigeria

At €16.5 million, Ahmed Musa is the most expensive player in Pro League history.

North Macedonia North Macedonia

Until 2019 named Republic of Macedonia

Norway Norway

Oman Oman

In 2017–18, Ali Al-Habsi became the first foreign goalkeeper to win the Pro League.

Palestine State of Palestine

Panama Panama

Paraguay Paraguay

Peru Peru

Poland Poland

Adrian Mierzejewski won the Pro League with Al-Nassr in 2014–15.

Portugal Portugal

Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in January 2023.

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico

Qatar Qatar

Romania Romania

Mirel Rădoi won two Pro League titles with Al-Hilal.

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe

Scotland Scotland

Senegal Senegal

Serbia Serbia

Vladimir Stojković won the Golden Glove award in 2021–22 with 13 clean sheets.

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone

Slovakia Slovakia

Slovenia Slovenia

Spain Spain

Sudan Sudan

Suriname Suriname

Sweden Sweden

Christian Wilhelmsson won two Pro League titles with Al-Hilal.

Switzerland Switzerland

Syria Syria

Omar Al Somah finished as top scorer three times in a row, and is the highest-scoring foreign player in Pro League history
Jehad Al-Hussain holds the record for most assists in Pro League history with 51.

Timor-Leste East Timor

Togo Togo

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia Tunisia

Farouk Ben Mustapha won the Golden Glove award in 2018–19

Türkiye Turkey

Ukraine Ukraine

United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates

United States United States

Uruguay Uruguay

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan

Server Djeparov won the Pro League with Al-Shabab in 2011–12

Venezuela Venezuela

Zambia Zambia

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe

Notes

  1. ^
    Born in Argentina
  2. ^
    Born in Angola
  3. ^
    Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of Yugoslavia)
  4. ^
    Born in Brazil
  5. ^
    Born in Canada
  6. ^
    Born in Chad
  7. ^
    Born in Croatia
  8. ^
    Born in Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia)
  9. ^
    Born in England
  10. ^
    Born in France
  11. ^
    Born in The Gambia
  12. ^
    Born in Germany
  13. ^
    Born in Georgia (then part of the Soviet Union)
  14. ^
    Born in the Ivory Coast
  15. ^
    Born in Kosovo (then part of Yugoslavia)
  16. ^
    Born in Kuwait
  17. ^
    Born in Mali
  18. ^
    Born in Montenegro (then part of Yugoslavia)
  19. ^
    Born in Morocco
  20. ^
    Born in the Netherlands
  21. ^
    Born in Nigeria
  22. ^
    Born in North Macedonia (then Macedonia, part of Yugoslavia)
  23. ^
    Born in Portugal
  24. ^
    Born in Saudi Arabia
  25. ^
    Born in Scotland
  26. ^
    Born in Serbia (then part of Serbia and Montenegro)
  27. ^
    Born in Serbia (then part of Yugoslavia)
  28. ^
    Born in Slovakia (then part of Czechoslovakia)
  29. ^
    Born in Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia)
  30. ^
    Born in Somalia
  31. ^
    Born in Spain
  32. ^
    Born in Sweden
  33. ^
    Born in Switzerland
  34. ^
    Born in Togo
  35. ^
    Born in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union)
  36. ^
  37. ^
    Born in Uzbekistan (then part of the Soviet Union)
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References

  • FootballDatabase
  • SLstat.com
  • Foreign players in 2008–09
  • Soccerway
  • 128 Foreign players from 42 nations appear in SPL for the 2018–19 season
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