MANCHESTER, England: The great Saudi Arabian football experiment is on full show at the Club World Cup.
The Kingdom, which is spending billions of dollars to become a major player in the world’s most popular sport, scored a big win on the field Monday when Al-Hilal beat Premier League giants Manchester City 4-3 to advance to the quarterfinals.
It was a seismic result in football terms; possibly the biggest upset of the tournament and precisely the type of statement Saudi Arabia has wanted to make since embarking on a project that will ultimately see it stage the World Cup in 2034.
“We wanted to show that Al-Hilal has the talent, the power to be here,” said defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who was among a slew of star players paid fortunes to leave Europe’s top clubs for the Saudi Pro League in recent years.
Superstar signings and ones that got away
The biggest of them all was Cristiano Ronaldo, who completed one of the most stunning moves in football history when joining Al-Nassr for a reported salary of up to $200 million a year in 2022. That deal prompted a spectacular recruitment drive by Saudi teams — backed by the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund — and in came superstars like Neymar and Karim Benzema, while audacious attempts were made to sign Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
Confirmation that Saudi Arabia had won the right to host the World Cup came in December. On the field, the Club World Cup was the first chance for the country to make a global statement about the growth of its domestic game, which is largely unheralded outside of Asia.
It is likely why Al-Hilal — Saudi Arabia’s most successful team — were so eager to make another marquee signing before the tournament began and tried, but failed, to lure Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes.
They pulled off a coup by hiring coach Simone Inzaghi. The Italian arrived after leading Inter Milan to a second Champions League final in three seasons and he is already making a mark with his new team after drawing 1-1 against Real Madrid in the group stage and then beating City.
“We had to do something extraordinary because we knew how good Manchester City are, we knew we had to climb Mount Everest without oxygen, and we were great,” Inzaghi said.
Saudi football has faced doubts
The broader picture is what Al-Hilal’s run says about the standard of football in Saudi Arabia, which has been dismissed by some as a cash grab for players, who can earn far more than if they’d remained in Europe.
“Let’s see now if they will criticize us after these games,” said midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who joined Al-Hilal from Italian team Lazio. “It’s not like how they are speaking about the league.”
Despite recruiting so many players from Europe’s top clubs — including Champions League winners N’Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino — it is difficult to judge the quality of the Saudi league.
To put Al-Hilal’s run into context: While they may have won a record 19 league titles and four Asian championships, they are not the Saudi Arabia’s reigning national champion, having been beaten to the title by Benzema’s Al-Ittihad last season.
Another Saudi team, Al-Ahli, who count former Liverpool forward Firmino and ex-Manchester City winger Mahrez among their players, won the Asian Champions League this year.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, is yet to win the title in three attempts with Al-Nassr — pointing to the depth of strength in the league.
Al-Hilal’s performances have also come despite releasing Brazil great Neymar in January and with leading scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic having played no part so far because of injury.
Can Al Hilal win the Club World Cup?
The question now is how far Al-Hilal can go.
Next up is Brazil’s Fluminense in the quarterfinals in Orlando on Friday.
City’s exit — along with Inter Milan’s defeat to Fluminense — has opened up that side of the draw, which also features Palmeiras and Chelsea.
On paper it looks like the favorable side of the draw, with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain on the other side. But the success of Brazilian teams has been another theme of the tournament and Al-Hilal will have to beat at least one more if they are to advance to the final.
Inzaghi, however, is used to overachieving. His two Champions League finals with Inter Milan came despite having an aging team and relying on savvy deals in the transfer market to pick up free agents and veteran players.
Inter’s victory against Barcelona in the semifinals of this year’s competition was one of the all-time classic contests — winning 7-6 on aggregate.
Al-Hilal’s impressive run has come after Inzaghi spent just one week training with the team before the tournament.
Even if they are eliminated in the next round, a quarterfinals appearance would represent an outstanding campaign for a team that was not expected to compete for the title.
Saudi Arabia’s investment in sport is undoubtedly paying off and Al-Hilal’s run is succeeding in raising the profile of its soccer league.
