Al Nassr

Beginnings and triumphs (1955–1989)

Al Nassr was established in 1955 by the Al-Ja'ba brothers. Training took place in an old playground at Gashlat Al-Shortah, west shirts. In addition to the Al-Ja'ba brothers, Ali and Al-Owais, Prince Abdul Rahman bin Saud Al Saud became the head of Al Nassr, he spent more than 39 years as the president for 3 stints until his death. His love of the team made him accept the challenge of being the president of a second-division club and turning it into a champion, and therefore, he is known as Al-Nassr's Godfather. They were promoted to the first division in 1963. During the 1970s and 1980s, the club won one Categorization League and three Saudi Premier League titles, Five King's Cups, two Crown Prince's Cups, and one Federation Cup. The team's success was built around the "Saudi Golden Trio" of Majed Abdullah, Fahd Al-Bishi and Mohaisen Al-Jam'an.

End of the Majed Abdullah era (1989–2000)

In the 1990s (year), Al Nassr managed to win two further Saudi Premier League titles in the 1993–1994 and 1994–1995 seasons, the 1990 King's Cup and the 1997–1998 Federation Cup. Towards the end of Majed Abdullah's career, he still wasn't able to lift the ultimate prize in UAFA region; the Arab Club Champions Cup while the other top clubs in Saudi already succeeded in doing this. Despite that, Al Nassr managed to triumph in the continental tournaments. The 37-year-old striker, Majed Abdullah at the time, managed to win two GCC Club Cups, one Asian Cup Winners' Cup and one Asian Super Cup. Majed Abdullah announced his retirement on 12 April 1998 following Al-Nassr's win in the 1998 Asian Cup Winner's Cup against Suwon Samsung Bluewings from South Korea in front of 70,000 fans in Riyadh. Majed retired at 39 years old as the all-time top scorer of the Saudi League with 189 goals and is also Al-Nassr's all-time top scorer with 260 goals, a record that was considered untouchable until the coming of Abderrazak Hamdallah.

After becoming champion of the Asian Super Cup, Al-Nassr was eligible to represent the AFC region in the first FIFA Club World Cup. In that championship Al-Nassr played against Corinthians, Real Madrid and Raja Casablanca and finished 3rd in the group, the club became the first team to officially represent Asia in an international tournament, which was held in Brazil from 5 January to 14 January, in the year 2000. The nickname "The Global One (Al-Alami)" was obtained following their respective participation in the Club World Cup. Al Nassr won the FIFA Fair Play Award and 6th place following the end of the Club World Cup and was the first team in the world to win the award.

Decline (2001–2007)

Following the retirement of the Golden Trio, Al-Nassr’s squad reached the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time. The club signed international players including Ivory Coast forward Fadel Keïta and former Barcelona midfielder Julio César Baldivieso.

Results declined in subsequent seasons. In 2006–07 Al-Nassr finished ninth with 21 points and avoided relegation on the final matchday. Honorary members, including Majed Abdullah, intervened to begin a long-term restructuring of the club’s management. During this period Al-Hilal recorded more derby victories against Al-Nassr than in any previous era.

Revival (2008–2015)

After a major overhaul of the playing staff, Al-Nassr defeated city rivals Al-Hilal to win the 2008 Federation Cup. In 2009 the club signed Mohammad Al-Sahlawi from Al-Qadsiah for a reported SR32 million, then a domestic record.

In his first season Al-Sahlawi scored 21 goals in 36 matches and was named Young Player of the Year by STC. Al-Nassr finished third in the 2009–10 league and qualified for the 2011 AFC Champions League.

2011 AFC Champions League

Al-Nassr finished second in their group. Results included a 2–2 draw with Pakhtakor (goal by loaned player Bader Al-Mutawa), a 2–1 win over Esteghlal (Hussein Abdulghani), a 1–0 defeat to Al-Sadd, a further draw with Al-Sadd, a 4–0 victory over Pakhtakor (goals by Saud Hamood, Al-Sahlawi and two by Al-Mutawa), and a 2–1 loss to Esteghlal. In the round of 16 the club was eliminated 4–1 by Zob Ahan. Al-Mutawa scored five goals in the competition before returning to Kuwait.

League and cup success

Under coach Francisco Maturana in 2011–12 Al-Nassr reached the Crown Prince Cup final but lost to Al-Hilal on penalties. In 2013–14, with José Daniel Carreño as coach, the team recorded a 22-match unbeaten run and won both the Saudi Pro League and the Crown Prince Cup against Al-Hilal, qualifying for the 2015 AFC Champions League.

Al-Nassr retained the league title in 2014–15. The side lost the King’s Cup final and exited the Crown Prince Cup in the semi-finals. In the 2015 AFC Champions League the team finished bottom of a group containing Bunyodkor, Al-Duhail and Persepolis. Al-Sahlawi scored 25 goals in 37 appearances that season. René Higuita was appointed coach but the club again failed to progress beyond the group stage of the 2016 AFC Champions League.

Hamdallah era (2016–2022)

Al-Nassr finished third in the 2016–17 league behind Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal. The club were runners-up in both the Crown Prince Cup and the King’s Cup and did not qualify for the AFC Champions League in 2017 or 2018. Al-Sahlawi scored 10, 11 and 12 league goals across the three seasons from 2015–16 to 2017–18.

In March 2018 coach Gustavo Quinteros signed Sultan Al-Ghannam on a free transfer from Al-Faisaly. In the summer the club added Moroccan players Abderrazak Hamdallah and Nordin Amrabat. Hamdallah finished the 2018–19 season as league top scorer with 34 goals and helped Al-Nassr win the title. He also scored heavily in the King’s Cup, including multiple hat-tricks. At the end of the calendar year he was recognised by the IFFHS as the world’s leading goalscorer with 57 goals. Al-Sahlawi left for Al-Shabab.

Al-Nassr won the Saudi Super Cup in January 2020 (1–1 draw with Al-Taawoun, Hamdallah scoring) and again in January 2021 (3–0 against Al-Hilal). In the 2019 AFC Champions League the club reached the quarter-finals before losing to Al-Sadd; Hamdallah scored four goals. In the 2020 edition Al-Nassr reached the semi-finals, losing on penalties to Persepolis. Hamdallah shared the golden boot with seven goals.

Hamdallah’s contract was terminated in November 2020 although he remained available until the end of the season. In May and June 2021 the club signed Talisca (reported €9.5 million) and Vincent Aboubakar (reported €6 million). Both scored on debut in a 4–1 win over Damac in August 2021. Under coaches Miguel Ángel Russo and later Rudi Garcia the team finished without major trophies in 2021–22. Talisca scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 win at Al-Raed.