Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar are among the stars who will battle it out to be named the Saudi Pro League top scorer in 2023/24.
Al-Nassr star Ronaldo already has experience of playing and scoring regularly in Saudi Arabia, after netting 14 times in last season’s competition.
Ronaldo scored two league hat-tricks in February, including a stunning four-goal haul against Al-Wehda, although his team ended up finishing second to Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League table.
Al-Ittihad already have prolific goalscorer Abderrazak Hamdallah in their ranks and now they have added Real Madrid great Benzema.
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Benzema has joined Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia after an incredible 14 seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu, where he won the Champions League five times.
Striker Benzema is younger than Ronaldo and still playing at a high level – he was the Ballon d’Or winner in 2022 and would have played at the World Cup for France had he not been injured.
In statistics that will worry Saudi Pro League defenders, Benzema scored 75 goals across his last two seasons with Real Madrid.
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Al-Ittihad have also signed N’Golo Kante from Chelsea and Liverpool star Fabinho, so Benzema has an impressive supporting cast.
Manchester United and Real Madrid great Ronaldo also has a strong group of team-mates.
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Brazilian attacker Talisca was with him last season and they have also been joined by new signings Sadio Mane, Seko Fofana, Otavio, Aymeric Laporte and Marcelo Brozovic.
Last year’s third-placed team and King’s Cup winners Al-Hilal, traditionally the team to beat in the Saudi Pro League, look strong after bringing in Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom, Ruben Neves, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Kalidou Koulibaly. But they saved the best until last, with Neymar agreeing to join the club.
Al-Ahli have landed a host of star names like Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez, Allan Saint-Maximin and Franck Kessie.
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Steven Gerrard and Al-Ettifaq have brought in Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, with their attack set to be led by Moussa Dembele.
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Therefore a thrilling battle is set to take place for Saudi Pro League glory and it should be a similarly exciting race in the top goalscorer charts.
Keep this page saved throughout the 2023/24 season, as standings will appear here documenting the top scorers in the Saudi Pro League, with updates coming after each matchday.
Saudi Pro League top scorers 2023/24
Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema are already chasing their rivals in the race to be named the Saudi Pro League top scorer for 2023/24.
But Benzema is now off the mark in Saudi Arabia after scoring his first goal in Al-Ittihad’s impressive 4-0 win at Al-Riyadh on Matchday 3.
Goalscoring standings
Player | Team | Goals |
---|---|---|
Abderrazak Hamdallah | Al-Ittihad | 4 |
Roberto Firmino | Al-Ahli | 3 |
Malcom | Al-Hilal | 3 |
Igor Coronado | Al-Ittihad | 2 |
Robin Quaison | Al-Ettifaq | 2 |
Fashion Sakala | Al-Feiha | 2 |
Cristian Tello | Al-Fateh | 2 |
Firas Al-Buraikan | Al-Fateh | 1 |
Sadio Mane | Al-Nassr | 1 |
Riyad Mahrez | Al-Ahli | 1 |
Karim Benzema | Al-Ittihad | 1 |
Aleksandar Mitrovic | Al-Hilal | 1 |
Moussa Dembele | Al-Ettifaq | 1 |
Knowledge Musona | Al-Riyadh | 1 |
Sultan Mandash | Al-Feiha | 1 |
Vina | Al-Hazm | 1 |
After his heroics in leading Al-Nassr to glory in the Arab Club Champions Cup, Ronaldo was forced to miss his team’s opener against Al-Ettifaq due to an injury sustained in the final.
That was a blow for Ronaldo, who had scored six goals in a brilliant Champions Cup campaign to warm up for the league season in style by winning his first silverware in Saudi Arabia.
And his absence proved costly. While Sadio Mane scored early on for Al-Nassr, Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq battled back to win 2-1, with new striker Moussa Dembele scoring the winner.
Ronaldo was back in action for Al-Nassr’s second match of the Saudi Pro League season, but his team suffered a shock 2-0 home defeat to Al-Taawoun.
Benzema played in his opening match, but was unable to score on his Saudi Pro League debut. The French forward managed an assist for the club’s other star attacker Abderrazak Hamdallah as champions Al-Ittihad won 3-0 at Al-Raed. Igor Coronado scored the other two goals.
Al-Ittihad won again on Matchday 2, with Benzema playing, but once more he was not among the scorers in a 2-0 victory, with Hamdallah on target for the second time.
And an impressive start for Al-Ittihad continued as they thumped Al-Riyadh. Benzema scored his first goal and grabbed an assist, while the relentless Hamdallah netted a double to make himself the current Saudi Pro League top scorer.
There have been two hat-tricks scored this season, both on the opening weekend.
Roberto Firmino made a stunning start to life at his new club, scoring a hat-trick on his debut for Al-Ahli as they defeated Al-Hazm 3-1.
The former Liverpool star netted a fantastic treble in the first match of the new season.
Firmino scored two of his goals inside the first 10 minutes. After Vina had got a goal back for visitors Al-Hazm after the break, the Brazilian forward made sure of the win for Al-Ahli with his third goal 18 minutes from time.
Unfortunately for Firmino, injury ruled him out of Al-Ahli’s second match, but they still defeated Al-Khaleej 3-1 without him. Riyad Mahrez was among the scorers.
Firmino was back in week three, but Franck Kessie was the team’s scorer in a 1-0 win against Al-Okhdood.
Another new arrival to the league, Malcom, started with a treble. Al-Hilal won 3-1 at Abha in their first match, with the former Barcelona winger scoring all the goals.
Malcom was not among the scorers on the second week of action as Al-Hilal drew 1-1 with Al-Feiha. Former Rangers striker Fashion Sakala scored his second goal of the season in that game as Al-Feiha claimed a valuable point against the team who have signed Neymar.
Al-Hilal were 4-0 winners at Al-Raed in Matchday 3, with Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring his first goal of the campaign.
Firas Al-Buraikan, the top Saudi scorer last season, is also already off the mark for Al-Fateh.
The Saudi Pro League has got off to an exciting start in 2023/24 and fans will not have to wait long for their next batch of action as there will be further matches on August 25, with Al-Nassr among the sides due to play.
Saudi Pro League top scorers 2022/23
Abderrazak Hamdallah was the top scorer in the Saudi Pro League in the 2022/23 season.
The Morocco international starred for champions Al-Ittihad, netting 21 goals in just 26 top-flight appearances.
Goalscoring standings
Player | Team | Goals |
---|---|---|
1. Abderrazak Hamdallah | Al-Ittihad | 21 |
2. Talisca | Al-Nassr | 20 |
3. Odion Ighalo | Al-Hilal | 19 |
4. Firas Al-Buraikan | Al-Fateh | 17 |
5. Cristiano Ronaldo | Al-Nassr | 14 |
Hamdallah narrowly beat Al-Nassr attacking midfielder Talisca to the Golden Boot crown. Talisca scored 20 times to finish just behind Hamdallah.
Odion Ighalo claimed third place in the standings after scoring 19 times for Al-Hilal. He had won the Golden Boot in the 2021/22 campaign.
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Firas Al-Buraikan was the top Saudi player, scoring 17 goals for Al-Fateh, while Cristiano Ronaldo came in fifth place despite only joining halfway through the season.
Ronaldo impressively netted 14 times in only 16 Saudi Pro League outings.
Saudi Pro League Golden Boot: Previous winners
Season | Player | Goals |
---|---|---|
2022/23 | Abderrazak Hamdallah (3) | 21 |
2021/22 | Odion Ighalo | 24 |
2020/21 | Bafétimbi Gomis | 24 |
2019/20 | Abderrazak Hamdallah (2) | 29 |
2018/19 | Abderrazak Hamdallah | 34 |
Abderrazak Hamdallah is a three-time Golden Boot winner after his most recent success in 2022/23.
He previously came out on top in 2018/19 and 2019/20, before successes were claimed by Bafétimbi Gomis and Odion Ighalo.
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In scoring 34 times in the 2018/19 campaign, Hamdallah set the Saudi Pro League record for most goals in a season. If they can stay fit, few would bet against Ronaldo or Benzema challenging that milestone in the coming years.
Who are the Saudi Pro League top scorers of all time?
Al-Nassr great Majed Abdullah is the top all-time Saudi Pro League goalscorer. He played in the league between 1977 and 1997 and remarkably scored 189 goals in 194 games.
Two players from the modern era, Nasser Al-Shamrani and Omar Al Somah, are on the podium with Abdullah.
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Abderrazak Hamdallah is already up to sixth place overall, having netted 110 goals in just 113 appearances as of the start of this season.
SPL all-time top scorers
Player | Goals |
---|---|
1. Majed Abdullah | 189 |
2. Nasser Al-Shamrani | 167 |
3. Omar Al Somah | 144 |
4. Fahd Al-Hamdan | 120 |
5. Yasser Al-Qahtani | 112 |
6. Abderrazak Hamdallah | 110 |