Al Hilal 'dream big' as they seek to make mark for Saudi Pro League at Club World Cup

Riyadh giants eager to put disappointing 2024/25 campaign behind them as they travel to the US with new coach Simone Inzaghi

The importance of this summer's Club World Cup to Al Hilal cannot be understated. This is, after all, a deeply ambitious club, the self-styled biggest club in Asia – a reputation they will seek to burnish against football’s other continental giants in the coming weeks.

They will be helped in that aim by a squad boasting numerous top internationals – whether they be home-grown Green Falcons or expensively imported stars lured to the kingdom since the PIF placed its financial might behind the Pro League’s elite.

That includes the Portuguese full-back Joao Cancelo, a player whose pedigree is underlined by the fact he has represented no fewer than five of the other sides – Benfica, Juventus, Inter Milan, Manchester City and Bayern Munich – present at the expanded 32-team tournament in the US.

“We’ll go there to perform well,” Cancelo, who has won 60 caps for Portugal and also counts Valencia and Barcelona among his former employers, told Fifa’s official website.

“First, we have to get through our group, which is the most important thing, and then it’s a matter of going step by step and match by match. It is a beautiful competition.

“A lot of us will have our families and friends there to support us, and we’ll give our best, just like the other teams. We have to think match by match and dream as big as possible.”

Problematic prelude

Dreaming big comes naturally to a club with a record 19 domestic league titles and four Asian crowns to their name – but it’s undeniable Al Hilal depart for the US having endured a difficult build-up.

Last season they garnered widespread acclaim for a world record 34-match winning streak under Jorge Jesus. A domestic treble was secured, although their Asian ambitions were dented by an inspired Al Ain in Abu Dhabi.

But fast forward 12 months and Jesus has been sacked and the Riyadh giants have been usurped by their rivals from Jeddah – left behind by champions Al Ittihad in the Pro League and unceremoniously dumped out of the AFC Champions League by Al Ahli.

Those setbacks have left Hilal scrambling to recalibrate ahead of a competition long earmarked as a key objective.

That process has included a chaotic hunt for a marquee signing to replace Neymar, Hilal's quarter-of-a-billion-dollar white elephant who limped out of the club in January after 18 miserable months.

Mohamed Salah, Bruno Fernandes and Victor Osimhen all reportedly turned down the riches on offer to be the face of Hilal’s Club World Cup campaign.

Italian influence

One man who said 'yes' to Hilal is new coach Simone Inzaghi, who left Inter Milan after two Uefa Champions League final defeats in three years.

“My desire had always been to be able to go and coach abroad as well as in Italy and for me Al Hilal is a great opportunity in my career,” said the 49-year-old Inzaghi.

“Al Hilal is a club I know because I follow Arab football. We have been to play here in Saudi Arabia with both Lazio and Inter, so it is a championship that made me follow them, and I have always followed Al Hilal with big sympathy because they have Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, whom I have coached before at Lazio, and I am happy to have found him at the club,” he added in perhaps the least convincing ‘I have always supported my new employers' speech ever recorded.

With Inzaghi at the helm, it will be interesting to see if Hilal immediately switch to his preferred 3-5-2 having previously operated with a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 under Jesus.

In Cancelo, he has the perfect right wing-back for his system, while Hilal’s recent pursuit of attacking left-sided full-backs Theo Hernandez and Angelino suggests the new coach’s tactical tastes are being catered for.

Intriguingly, Inzaghi’s arrival also means that both major Riyadh clubs are now dominated by Italians, with Stafano Pioli and his technical staff bedded in across town at Al Nassr.

Clearly neither were put off by Roberto Mancini’s disastrous tenure with the Saudi Arabia national team, while the roaring trade being done by the capital's Italian eateries has been an unexpected economic benefit of the PIF’s investment in football.

A blockbuster opener

Unlike many of the sides in the Club World Cup, Al Hilal actually have some history in the old format of the competition, having participated in 2019, 2021 and 2022.

In 2022, they even reached the final thanks to an upset victory over Brazilian giants Flamengo in the last four.

And, on June 18, they are set for a reprisal of their 2022 title match when they face Real Madrid at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami in their Group H opener.

Three years ago, that final ended 5-3 to Madrid. For Hilal, defender Ali Al Bulaihi, midfielder Mohamed Kanno and club legend and captain Salem Al Dawsari are among the survivors from that thriller in Rabat.

Aside from Madrid, Hilal will need to perform well to progress to the knockout stages with Austria’s RB Salzburg and Mexico’s Pachuca making up the remainder of a challenging group.

“Both Salzburg and Pachuca will be as difficult opponents as Real Madrid,” insisted Cancelo. “I watched a Pachuca match against Real Madrid some time ago and I liked the way they played.

“Real Madrid is always a very difficult team to face. They have dangerous attacking players. They are very strong in every area of the pitch, and that's why they are ever-present in the Uefa Champions League knockout stages.

“We’ll go there to try to provide a positive answer to the challenge they represent to Al Hilal and to our fans, and hope to finish in a good position to enable us to go through to the next stage.”

Brazilian magic and midfield steel

With Hilal struggling to pull off some major deals on the eve of the tournament, it will be left to the club’s existing roster of players to lead the way this summer.

That includes the Brazilian striker Marcos Leonardo who has been a major success story in an otherwise difficult campaign.

Leonardo, 22, was prolific as a youngster at Santos and was once regarded as a future star of the Brazilian national team before a tricky spell at Benfica stalled his progress.

He has rediscovered his touch at Hilal with 25 goals across all competitions in 2024/25, easing the burden on his compatriot Malcom and the former Fulham targetman Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Behind them, the Hilal midfield has a formidable look to it with Kanno and Milinkovic-Savic supported by Ruben Neves. At the back Moroccan World Cup goalkeeper Yassine Bounou and the Senegalese former Serie A standout Kalidou Koulibaly are mainstays of the side.

“Being among the 32 best teams in the world is very good for Al Hilal,” added Cancelo. “Not only for Al Hilal but also for the image of Saudi Arabia and the Arab League, which has been growing a lot in these last couple of years, with some great players coming here.

“And that must be a source of pride for Al Hilal fans. It is an honour to take part in the Fifa Club World Cup along with all the best teams, and the best players in the world. We’ll be going there to dream and to try our best.”