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

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Algeria Algeria

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

Angola Angola

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Argentina Argentina

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Argentina international Éver Banega joined Al-Shabab in 2020

Armenia Armenia

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Australia Australia

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

Bahrain Bahrain

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Belarus Belarus

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Belgium Belgium

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Benin Benin

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Bolivia Bolivia

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Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Brazil Brazil

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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

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Burkina Faso Burkina Faso

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Burundi Burundi

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Cameroon Cameroon

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Cape Verde Cape Verde

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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

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Chad Chad

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Chile Chile

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

Colombia Colombia

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Comoros Comoros

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Congo Republic of the Congo

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Costa Rica Costa Rica

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Croatia Croatia

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Curaçao Curaçao

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Until 2010   Netherlands Antilles

Denmark Denmark

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DR Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo

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Ecuador Ecuador

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Egypt Egypt

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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

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Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea

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Eritrea Eritrea

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Estonia Estonia

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France France

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

Gabon Gabon

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Gambia The Gambia

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Georgia Georgia (country)

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Germany Germany

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Ghana Ghana

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Prince Tagoe spent two seasons with Al-Ettifaq

Greece Greece

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

GuineaGuinea

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Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau

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Honduras Honduras

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Hungary Hungary

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Iraq Iraq

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Italy Italy

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

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast

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Jamaica Jamaica

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Jordan Jordan

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Kazakhstan Kazakhstan

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Kenya Kenya

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Korea Republic South Korea

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

Kuwait Kuwait

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Lebanon Lebanon

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Liberia Liberia

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Libya Libya

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Lithuania Lithuania

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Luxembourg Luxembourg

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Madagascar Madagascar

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Malawi Malawi

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Mali Mali

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Mauritania Mauritania

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Moldova Moldova

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Montenegro Montenegro

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Morocco Morocco

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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

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Netherlands Netherlands

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Niger Niger

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Nigeria Nigeria

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

North Macedonia North Macedonia

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Until 2019 named Republic of Macedonia

Norway Norway

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Oman Oman

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

Palestine State of Palestine

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Panama Panama

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Paraguay Paraguay

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Peru Peru

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Poland Poland

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

Portugal Portugal

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

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico

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Qatar Qatar

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Romania Romania

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

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe

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Scotland Scotland

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Senegal Senegal

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Serbia Serbia

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

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone

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Slovakia Slovakia

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Slovenia Slovenia

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Spain Spain

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Sudan Sudan

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Suriname Suriname

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Sweden Sweden

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

Switzerland Switzerland

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Syria Syria

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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

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Togo Togo

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Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago

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Tunisia Tunisia

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

Türkiye Turkey

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Ukraine Ukraine

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United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates

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United States United States

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Uruguay Uruguay

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Uzbekistan Uzbekistan

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

Venezuela Venezuela

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Zambia Zambia

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Zimbabwe Zimbabwe

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Notes

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  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

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