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:
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.
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.
Victor Simões was the joint top scorer in the
2011–12 season, with 21 goals.Giuliano won the Pro League with Al-Nassr in 2018–19Thiago Neves won two Pro League titles with Al-HilalFernando Menegazzo won the Pro League with Al-Shabab in 2011–12Marquinho 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
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.
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.
Omar Al Somah finished as top scorer three times in a row, and is the highest-scoring foreign player in Pro League historyJehad Al-Hussain holds the record for most assists in Pro League history with 51.
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:
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.
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.
Victor Simões was the joint top scorer in the
2011–12 season, with 21 goals.Giuliano won the Pro League with Al-Nassr in 2018–19Thiago Neves won two Pro League titles with Al-HilalFernando Menegazzo won the Pro League with Al-Shabab in 2011–12Marquinho 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
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.
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.
Omar Al Somah finished as top scorer three times in a row, and is the highest-scoring foreign player in Pro League historyJehad Al-Hussain holds the record for most assists in Pro League history with 51.