How Saudi football twins became overnight social media stars

Saudi football’s Lajami twins, Ali and Qassem, may have attracted a whole new army of followers in recent days, but the 27-year-old duo have been flying into tackles around the Kingdom’s domestic scene for almost a decade now.

The twins gained worldwide attention on Friday when Al-Nassr’s Sadio Mane — who only moved to Riyadh earlier this month — was left seeing double after discovering that teammate Ali had a twin playing for the opposition Al-Fateh.

While fans around the world enjoyed the novel exchange, seasoned SPL strikers will be far more familiar with the two international defenders.

Sadio Mané needed some ID.

Mané mistook Al Fateh’s Qassem Lajami for teammate Ali Lajami. The Senegalese had no knowledge of a twin brother ever existing. #yallaRSL | #RoshnSaudiLeague |@SPL_EN

pic.twitter.com/iOZHMHJuzy

— Arab News | Sport (@ArabNewsSport) August 25, 2023

Not surprisingly, the twins started out together at Al-Muhheet before a move to the Eastern Province to spend the 2014-15 season with Al-Khaleej’s youth team as 18-year-olds.

It was not long before both players progressed to Al-Khaleej’s first team, with Ali playing 51 times for the club before leaving for Al-Fateh in 2018.

Qassem would go on to play 70 SPL matches for Al-Khaleej before moving a year later, also to Al-Fateh, where he remains to this day.

In 2020, Ali has made his big move to Al-Nassr, where he now plays alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Talisca, Marcelo Brozovic, Seko Fofana and Mane.

Ali was part of the prestigious select team of Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal players that took on Lionel Messi and Paris Saint Germain on Jan. 19 in a match that marked Ronaldo’s first appearance on Saudi soil.

On the night, the Saudi selection lost 5-4 to