On January 3, 2023, the eyes of the sporting world were on Alawwal Park, as millions of people flocked to the unveiling of Cristiano Ronaldo. Forget the Santiago Bernabeu, Old Trafford, or San Siro – that night, this was the most famous football stadium on Earth.
Since his presentation in front of a capacity crowd of 25,000, Ronaldo has called Alawwal Park home as captain of Roshan Saudi League (RSL) giants Al Nassr.
After Ronaldo reached Saudi Arabia, many of the world’s leading players also followed him. Team-mates next to Ronaldo at Alawal Park include Spanish defender Aymeric Laporte, a five-time Premier League champion with Manchester City, and Senegalese winger Sadio Mane, who won multiple trophies with Liverpool and Bayern Munich.
Alawal Park has hosted some of the biggest and most prestigious matches in global football during its short history – and continues to do so, starting with this weekend’s Supercoppa Italiana.
Italy may be the first, but it is not the only heavyweight football nation to take its Super Cup to Saudi. Spain finalized its deal to move the Supercopa de España to Saudi in 2019 and expand the format to four teams, with four of the previous five editions being held in the Kingdom.
The most recent edition was held at Alavl Park less than 12 months ago when Vinicius Junior’s hat-trick gave Real Madrid a 4–1 win over rivals Barcelona.
In addition to hosting the Italian and Spanish Super Cups, many more tournaments and memorable matches have put Alawal Park on the global football map.
Officially opened in May 2015, the stadium was initially the home of Al Nassr’s rivals Al Hilal, who were tenants for three seasons, from the beginning of 2017/18 to the end of 2019/20.
Al Hilal dominated Saudi football last season, going unbeaten domestically and winning the treble. But even before building possibly the strongest team in Asian football history, Al Hilal were successive winners, including during their tenure at Alawal Park.
📸 Yasser Baksh – 2024 Getty Images
Al Hilal won the RSL title in their first and third seasons at the stadium, as well as the King’s Cup – the Saudi equivalent of the FA Cup – in 2020. The ground also hosted the first leg of the 2019 AFC Champions League Final. Al Hilal won that match 1–0 before going on to win 2–0 in Saitama for their record third win of the Asian title.
In the same month, November 2019, Alawwaal Park welcomed two of world football’s greatest national teams to play the next chapter of their famous rivalry. Brazil and Argentina faced off in the 2019 Superclásico de las Americas at the Riyadh Stadium, with none other than Lionel Messi scoring the decisive goal in a 1–0 victory.
Two years later, in December 2021, another Argentinian legend, Diego Maradona, was honored at Alavl Park in a match between his two former clubs, Barcelona and Boca Juniors. The match was played a year after his tragic death and Boca won the Maradona Cup by winning the penalty shootout 4–2 after the teams were tied 1–1 in regular time.
Another notable match of note took place in March last year when Egyptian giants Al Ahly and Zamalek – whose rivalry rivals any in world football – played the Egypt Cup final at Alawwal Park. Two late goals helped Al Ahly win the cup for the 39th time.
With the future of football in Saudi Arabia looking bright, Alawwal Park is set to add another chapter to its story. The stadium has been named as one of the eight venues for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, while on course, the biggest sporting event on earth will come to the Kingdom in 10 years’ time.
Following the confirmation of Saudi Arabia as host for the 2034 FIFA World Cup, it was announced that 11 new stadiums would be built to host the tournament. Alawal Park was one of four existing venues selected to host the matches and will be expanded to 46,319 seats, reflecting its continued importance within Saudi Arabia’s football development.
📸 Yasser Baksh – 2023 Getty Images