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Al Nassr began their Saudi Pro League 2026-27 title defence with a 3-0 win over Al Fateh without Cristiano Ronaldo, who watched from the VIP box. Angelo, Joao Felix and Samu Costa scored in Ange Postecoglou’s first competitive match in charge. Moussa Dembele hit the season’s first hat-trick as Al Ettifaq won 4-2, while Al Hilal needed three penalties to beat promoted Al Faisaly.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: When the Al Nassr team sheet went up at Al-Awwal Park, there was one name missing and ten that were entirely familiar.
Ange Postecoglou’s first competitive selection as champions’ coach was, Samu Costa aside, a carbon copy of last season’s strongest eleven — minus Cristiano Ronaldo, absent after his recent marriage to Georgina Rodriguez and a late return to training following the World Cup. The couple watched from the VIP box instead.
A Clean Start to the Postecoglou Era
Joao Felix collected the 2025-26 Player of the Season award before kick-off and then went out and justified it. Angelo opened the scoring on 37 minutes — the first official goal of Postecoglou’s tenure — and Felix doubled the lead three minutes later, slipping past more than one defender before drilling home.
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Al Fateh pushed after the break without threatening seriously. Goalkeeper Walid Al-Enezi made six saves and kept the margin respectable, denying Sadio Mane on 63 minutes. Three minutes later Postecoglou withdrew Felix for Samu Costa, and the new signing needed seven minutes to hammer in a third.
It was Al Nassr’s 300th Saudi Pro League victory, making them only the second club to reach that mark. Al Hilal, on 355, remain ahead of them.
Three Penalties, and a Scare at Kingdom Arena
Al Hilal’s evening against promoted Al Faisaly should have been settled inside half an hour. It was not.
Karim Benzema opened from the penalty spot after a VAR review found Mohammed Al Shanqiti had blocked a cross with his arm, the 38-year-old slotting low past Fernando Pacheco. Malcom made it two on 26 minutes, smashing home at the near post after Faisaly failed to clear a Ruben Neves free kick. Two minutes later, from Faisaly’s own kick-off, Hilal won the ball back, Benzema fed Crysencio Summerville, and the summer signing went down under a double challenge. Neves converted.
Faisaly then produced a genuine scare. Alexandre Mendy stabbed home Jaime Seoane’s cross on the hour for a goal on debut, and five minutes later a poor upfield kick from Yassine Bounou came straight back at his own defence — Mendy picking out Theo Bongonda, who headed beyond the stranded goalkeeper. Only when substitute Mohamed Meite was bundled over at the death, and Neves converted his second penalty on 88 minutes, did Simone Inzaghi’s side breathe.
Dembele Sets the Individual Standard
The performance of the round belonged to Moussa Dembele. The French forward opened the scoring against Al Riyadh on 22 minutes and completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot — the second of his two spot-kicks arriving nine minutes into stoppage time — as Al Ettifaq won 4-2. Young French prospect Rayane Messi also scored on debut.
NEOM Hold On With Ten
NEOM’s 2-1 win over Al Fayha was the round’s exercise in endurance. Amadou Kone and Said Benrahma scored, and NEOM then played the final third of the match a man down after Alaa Hejji’s dismissal, holding out for all three points.
Rivals Stumble
While the champions were untroubled, two of their nearest challengers were not. Al Ittihad were held 1-1 at home by Al Kholood, and Al Taawoun and Al Khaleej played out a goalless draw — points dropped that neither side will have budgeted for in week one.
Twenty-eight goals were scored across matchweek 1. Al Hilal conceded twice to a promoted club, Al Ittihad and Al Taawoun failed to win at all, and of the three title contenders in action, only Al Nassr looked entirely convincing — which, for a squad missing its most famous player, is the most interesting thing about the opening weekend.
Results — Saudi Pro League, Matchweek 1
Al Nassr 3-0 Al Fateh (Angelo 37′, Joao Felix 40′, Samu Costa 73′)
Al Hilal 4-2 Al Faisaly (Benzema pen, Malcom 26′, Neves pen 28′, Neves pen 88′; Mendy 60′, Bongonda 65′)
Al Ettifaq 4-2 Al Riyadh (Dembele 22′, two pens incl. 90+9; Rayane Messi)
NEOM 2-1 Al Fayha (Kone, Benrahma)
Al Taawoun 0-0 Al Khaleej
Al Ittihad 1-1 Al Kholood