This tournament is part of the annual Riyadh Season, a months-long festival of events in sports, art, and music among others. Riyadh Season is funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and it's one of the largest tourist attractions in the region.
These are the fixtures for Riyadh Season 2023:
Riyadh Season Cup History and Information
French club Paris Saint-Germain were invited to play at Riyadh Season 2022, the first edition that featured the Cup. The sole event saw PSG face Riyadh XI, a team comprising of Al Hilal and Al Nassr players, as the reigning Ligue 1 champions won 5-4 in a pulsating encounter at King Fahd International Stadium.
The global football community watched in awe as Lionel Messi shared a pitch with Cristiano Ronaldo, shortly after the latter's arrival at Al Nassr FC from Manchester United. Messi, meanwhile, was fresh off of leading Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar.
In December 2023 it was announced that Major League Soccer team Inter Miami would partake in the second edition of the Riyadh Season Cup, once again pitting Messi against Ronaldo and his Al Nassr teammates, in what has been dubbed the 'Last Dance' between the two football greats.
Riyadh Season Cup Format
The maiden edition of the Cup had just a single event, but future editions will follow a Round Robin tournament format with all participating teams to face one another. The team which collects the most points will be crowned champions of the Riyadh Season Cup.
Best Players in Riyadh Season Cup
A host of star players were on display when PSG met Riyadh XI in January 2023.
Leo Messi, Kylian Mbappé, and Neymar Jr all made cameos for the Parisiens, as did other seasoned internationals such as Sergio Ramos and Marquinhos. Representing Riyadh XI were the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Anderson Talisca, and Luiz Gustavo.
Plenty more high-profile pros signed for Al Nassr and Al Hilal, respectively, later in 2023. Among them were Sadio Mané and Aymeric Laporte (both Al Nassr), as well as Neymar Jr and Ruben Neves (both Al Hilal).
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