Al Hilal return to the Club World Cup aiming to finally turn regional dominance into global success. After falling short in the 2023 final, the Saudi giants arrive in the United States with a star-studded squad, a new manager in Simone Inzaghi, and a group that includes European champions Real Madrid. Expectations are high.
1) Who will Al Hilal face at the Club World Cup?
Al Hilal have been drawn into Group H and these are their group stage fixtures:
18 June: vs Real Madrid. Hard Rock Stadium, Miami.
22 June: vs RB Salzburg. Audi Field, Washington DC.
26 June: vs Pachuca. Geodis Park, Nashville.
2) Domestic domination
Al-Hilal are 19-times champions of Saudi Arabia, with 11 of these titles coming since 2002. Overall, they are by far the country's most successful club, having won nine more titles than Al-Ittihad.
3) Asian success
Meantime, the Blue Waves are four-times AFC Champions League winners, which is a competition record. Al Hilal were crowned Asian champions in 1991 and 2000, before claiming the title again in 2019 and 2021, beating Pohang Steelers 2-0 in the most-recent of those finals, with Nasser Al-Dawsari breaking the deadlock after a mere 16 seconds on an historic night in Riyadh.
In total, Al Hilal have featured in nine AFC Champions League Finals; no one else has appeared in more than four. This saw them named the Best Asian Club of the 20th Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics back in 2009.
4) A season lacking silverware
Given all of their historic success, this campaign was viewed as a massive failure. The Blue Waves finished second in the Saudi Pro League, eight points adrift champions Al-Ittihad, notably losing 4-1 when the top two clashes in Jeddah back in February. Overall, they lost four league matches, despite having gone through the entire previous season undefeated, winning a staggering 31 of 34 fixtures.
Elsewhere, Al Hilal were dumped out of the King's Cup at the quarter-final stage by eventual winners, you guessed it, Al-Ittihad on penalties. In the AFC Champions League, the record-winners did reach the semi-finals, steamrollering Gwangju FC 7-0 in the quarters, before being ousted by Saudi rivals Al-Ahli four days later. Thus, they only have the Saudi Super Cup to show for their efforts this season.
5) Past Club World Cup expirence
Al Hilal have previously featured at three editions of the FIFA Club World Cup, all coming in the last six years. In 2019, they ousted Espérance de Tunis in the quarter-finals, but were then defeated by Flamengo in the semis, before a penalty shootout loss against Monterrey in the third-place play-off.
Two years later, well... a similar story. The Blue Waves demolished Al-Jazira 6-1 in their opener, before a hard-fought 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in the semi-finals, before being batted 4-0 by Al Ahly, thereby missing out on bronze.
Back in February 2023, it was almost third time lucky for Al-Hilal. They overcame hosts Wydad Casablanca on penalties and then caused a major upset in the semi-finals; Salem Al-Dawsari's brace helping them to a shock 3-2 victory over Flamengo in Ṭangier. Then, in by far the highest-scoring Club World Cup Final to date, the Saudi Side put up a good fight, but were ultimately beaten 5-3 by Real Madrid in Rabāṭ. This makes them the only Asian side to ever reach a final not on home soil, underlining that they are capable of competing at a global level.
6) Al Hilal players to watch: Aleksandar Mitrović
Without a shadow of a doubt, Aleksandar Mitrović will be Al Hilal's main man for goals this summer.
Since swapping Fulham for Saudi Arabia, the Serbian striker has scored 68 goals in just 79 appearances for the Blue Waves, thereby averaging a goal every 93 minutes. He missed ten league matches in January and February due to a hamstring injury, but concluded the campaign on fire, scoring five in five throughout May, looking to continue this fine form.
7) Al Hilal players to watch: Rúben Neves
Another key player, and there are plenty to choose from in truth, is midfielder Rúben Neves. He has so far made 86 appearances for the club, despite suffering a serious medial collateral ligament injury in November, but marked his return with a goal against Al-Orobah in January, and will remain at the heartbeat of this side, controlling the tempo at the base of midfield.
8) A star-studded squad
We've already mentioned two of them, but this Al-Hilal team is jam-packed full of top-class talent.
Morocco's number one Yassine Bounou will be donning the gloves, with Kalidou Koulibaly, João Cancelo and Renan Lodi amongst those forming his defence. Ahead of them, the aforementioned Rúben Neves and Sergej Milinković-Savić are a midfield pairing to rival any other at this competition.
Meantime, winger Malcom will be looking to add to his 36 goals for the club from out-wide, while Mitrović continues to be prolific in attack too. If we're going to highlight a domestic player, rather than simply mentioning the recognisable stars from overseas, it has to be captain Salem Al-Dawsari. The attacking midfielder, who debuted in 2011, has accumulated 445 appearances for Al Hilal, scoring 130 goals and winning 20 major honours, to go with his 92 international caps.
9) Manager Simone Inzaghi: Can he deliver success?
As outlined earlier, having failed to win either the league or the AFC Champions League, Jorge Jesus was sacked in May after 105 matches in charge, bringing to an end his second stint as Al-Hilal boss.
After a month of waiting, back on 4 June, Al-Hilal got their man, appointing Simone Inzaghi in time for this tournament. The Italian has won nine major honours in charge of Lazio and Inter, also leading I Nerazzurri to two Champions League Finals, so is clearly one of the best managers around, hence why Al-Hilal believe he can make all the difference at this tournament.
10) Can Al-Hilal spring a few surprises?
Al Hilal's Club World Cup campaign commences with a rematch against Real Madrid in Miami, before facing RB Salzburg in Washington, D.C. and then Pachuca in Nashville.
That tournament opener is certainly a daunting one, but their other two fixtures are more than winnable. Thus, it would actually be a surprise if the Saudi side did not reach the round of 16 where, if all goes as expected, they'd meet Man City or Juventus for a glamour tie in Florida.