First things first: the Saudi Football Fanatics team wishes a very happy and successful 2026 to fellow Saudi football fans!
The last gameweek before the end of 2025 was fantastic and perfectly set up the action-packed January of 2026. Let’s recap the key events of the last round of the Roshn Saudi League held in 2025!
1. We hope you watched the Saudi Pro League on 31 December 2025!
The last day of the year is usually associated with parties, but not this time as some epic football shows were presented to the loyal Roshn Saudi League fans.
The encounter between Al Qadsiah and Al Shabab was a story of two different halves: while the Khobar-based giants could have been up even more than three by the end of the first 45 minutes, you could feel sorry for the hosts by the end of the match. Indeed, Rodgers could feel lucky to register his first win in the Roshn Saudi League: once Carlos Júnior entered the fray in the second half, Al Shabab became dominant and Carrasco and co caused all sorts of problems to the high-flying visitors. Still, Al Qadsiah secured a narrow win with a 2-3 scoreline.
The encounter between NEOM and Al Ittihad was similarly epic, if not more! The match could really have gone either way, up until the moment NEOM goalkeeper Maximiano unnecessarily wandered forward to the halfway line in the stoppage time, whom was duly punished by Ahmed Al Ghamdi for his error. The end result: 1-3 for the Tigers.
2. Al Nassr drops points for the first time this season
Ronaldo really can’t stop scoring, now he did it with a deflected João Félix shot with his back! Still, his 957th goal wasn’t enough for the Riyadhi giants to maintain their perfect record as Saad Al Shehri’s Al Ettifaq came from behind to salvage a point against the league leaders. Nevertheless, Al Nassr remains unbeaten in the league under the management of Jorge Jesus.
As both Al Hilal and Al Taawoun won their respective matches, the top three are now separated by only three points. This means that we should be prepared for some epic Saudi Pro League action in 2026!
3. Four teams maintain perfect records since the restart of the league in late December 2025
There were only two rounds since the restart of the Saudi Pro League in the end of December, and only four teams managed to collect six points therefrom: Al Hilal, Al Taawoun, Al Ittihad and Al Fateh. While the first three were expected to do so given their fixtures, Al Fateh overcame the odds by beating both Al Ahli and Al Khaleej. It seems that Vargas and co really benefited from the long break, which is great news for their fans, especially given the thick schedule of the league fixtures in January.
4. Scoring a brace is always good – especially, when it matters!
This round only two players managed to score a brace, and both of them were much-needed: Wijnaldum (Al Ettifaq) ensured that Al Nassr’s perfect start to the season has come to an end, and French international fullback Theo Hernández helped Al Hilal to overcome the resilient 10-men Al Kholood. Despite playing as a defender, Theo already scored five times in the league, and is only a goal away from being the top scorer of the Blue Waves, Marcos Leonardo.
5. Damac finally gets their first win after five draws in a row
Valentín Vada has been one of the best summer signings this season, as the Argentinian playmaker almost single-handedly pulled his team out of the relegation zone with his dominant displays and goals week in, week out. This round Damac finally recorded their first win of the league, however, did you know that they have been unbeaten for six rounds by now? Indeed, an unbeaten streak of five draws in a row – all of them being 1-1 bar one goalless draw against Al Najma – were finally extended with a win in the end of 2025, at the expense of 10-men Al Okhdood. This means that only poor Al Najma remained winless in 2025.
