What a year: How Saudi football has flourished since World Cup win over Argentina

On Nov. 22, 2022, Saudi Arabia’s footballers pulled off a sporting miracle.

Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari scored two goals to give the Green Falcons a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar.

It was a stunning result that had the thousands of fans at the Lusail Stadium and millions more around the world celebrating.

When the Saudi players walked off the pitch at halftime, trailing to Lionel Messi’s penalty strike, not even the most optimistic of supporters would have given them much chance of a comeback.

But Herve Renard’s halftime team-talk reenergized the players and they went on to play the 45 minutes of their lives.

Such a result against the eventual winners would have been the highlight of the decade for most countries. But it turned out to be just the spark for a new era of football in the Kingdom.

Just weeks after a wild-eyed Messi trudged off that pitch shaking his head, a much-happier looking Cristiano Ronaldo was putting pen to paper to sign for Al-Nassr. The headlines around the world reflected even more disbelief. One of the two most recognizable football players of the 21st century came to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam to play football (and Messi almost did). Once again, this was a development that signaled the start of something new.

Ronaldo came halfway through the 2022-23 season. He was followed by a whole host of stars, like Karim Benzema, Neymar, N’Golo Kante, Fabinho, Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino, Ruben Neves, Yassine Bounou, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sadio Mane, Edouard Mendy, Aymeric Laporte and Aleksandar Mitrovic, to name but a few.

Ever since, the eyes of the world have been on the league and the action this season has been enthralling. Saudi Arabian sides dominated