We’ve covered most of the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) Fantasy 2025/26 teams now, but have left a couple of the best (and biggest) ’til last as we look at two of the title contenders, big spending Al-Nassr and upstart challenger (and also big spending) Al-Qadsiah!
Al-Nassr
Arguably the best known Saudi team, due to the presence of talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, Al-Nassr nonetheless had a frustrating campaign last time out, not only failing to challenge for the title, but also missing qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite after finishing in third place. 2025-26 hasn’t started brilliantly either, as they were pipped on penalties by Al-Ahli in the Super Cup final, but their ambitions remain lofty and their main target is to secure the league title. Last season they scored 80 goals and conceded just 38, averaging 2.4 goals per match, while keeping 9 clean sheets, ensuring their assets will feature heavily in any serious RSL fantasy manager’s line up.
Never ones to shy away from the big name signings, Al-Nassr have once again been bullish in the transfer market, securing former Barcelona defender Íñigo Martínez, Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman and João Félix, most recently of Chelsea, with the only notable outgoing being ex-Villa striker John Durán, who moved to Fenerbahçe on loan.
Pre-season has been largely positive, with three wins and just the one defeat in friendlies, plus a run to the final of the Super Cup, where they defeated Al-Ittihad 2–1 in the semi-final but lost the final to Al-Ahli on penalties after a 2-2 draw in normal time. Notably, Al-Nassr managed to score in every pre-season match, but secured just one clean sheet from six.
Al-Nassr 5-2 SK St Jonathan
Al-Nassr 2-1 Toulouse
Al-Nassr 4-0 Rio Ave
Almeria 3-2 Al-Nassr
Al-Nassr 2-1 Al-Ittihad
Al-Nassr 2-2 Al-Ahli
The team will hope to bring this scoring form into the new season, and in truth they face a very favourable start – in the first 11 matches, Al-Nassr face only Al-Ittihad and Al-Taawoun from last season’s top 10! Suffice to say this is going to make their assets very popular, few more so than Cristiano Ronaldo (13.0m), the top scorer of the league in the past two seasons and second top fantasy points scorer last time out with 266 points from his 25 goals, 149 shots on target and 12 big chances – notably CR7 delivered the best points-per-match ratio for any forward at 8.9 PPM.
Of course it’s not a one-man show, and Cristiano is far from the only household name in the Al-Nassr dressing room. Sadio Mané (10.0m) was the third-highest scoring midfielder with 231 points, notching 14 assists, 15 big chances created and an average of 7.2 points-per-match. Both Kingsley Coman (8.0m) and João Félix (7.5m) are new to the league (and the fantasy game), but are creative mid-price players who we’d expect to contribute goals and assists in 2025-25 – Felix indeed already scored in the Super Cup semi-final vs Al-Ittihad, and was the highest-rated player in that match.
For a more differential option, Marcelo Brozović (6.5m) could be the way to go. An elite passer and defensive asset, he served up 203 defensive actions last season and was the second most accurate midfield passer with 1982 (he completed 40 accurate passes and created two big chances against Al-Ittihad in the super cup semi alone, before going on to score and assist in the final!
Elsewhere Mohamed Simakan (5.5m) promises to be strong in passing, defensive contributions, and a threat on set-pieces, Iñigo Martínez (5.5m) is expected to be reliable defensively and in build-up play, whilst Sultan Al-Boushal (5.0m) offers a rare budget-friendly defensive option, albeit as as rotation risk with Sultan Al-Ghannam.
Al-Qadsiah
After their promotion to the Pro League in 23-24 and making strong reinforcements, the team impressively finished 4th in the table last term, scoring 53 goals and conceding only 31 across 34 matches. They were the best defensive side in the league, keeping 14 clean sheets.
However, their form dipped as they lost in the Super Cup semi-final against Al-Ahli by 5–1, and in their last 10 league matches of the season, they only managed 1 clean sheet. So the question is: will we see another improvement this season similar to their strong start last year, or will the struggle to keep clean sheets continue in 25-26?
Their record in the summer transfer window certainly underlines a confident mood to the season, securing Serie A’s top scorer Mateo Retegui (for €68m) from Atalanta, Genk’s left-winger Christopher Bonsu Baah – signed for €17m and Gabriel Carvalho for €15.6m. In addition they added regional stars Abdullah Al-Salem (former Al-Khaleej striker), Al-Thani (signed from Al-Shabab), Yasir Al-Shahrani (former Al-Hilal full-back) and Musab Al-Juwayr (joined from Al-Hilal after spending last season at Al-Shabab).
This changing side was perhaps understandably not fully settled in pre-season, playing four matches against decent opposition, drawing twice and losing twice. Whilst scoring just two goals, they remained defensively tight in most matches, conceding just three from 5 and keeping two clean sheets. However, their biggest setback came in the Super Cup semi-final, where they suffered a heavy 5–1 defeat to Al-Ahli.
Al-Qadsiah 0-1 STVV
Levante 0-0 Al-Qadsiah
Sevilla 2-2 Al-Qadsiah (Sevilla won 4-1 on pens)
Notts Forest 0-0 Al-Qadsiah
Al-Qadsiah 1-5 Al-Ahli
The team mostly operated with a 3-5-2 formation, and alike Al-Nassr have a decent run early on, facing only Al-Hilal from last season’s top 5 in their first eight matches, which will ensure their players are attractive for RSL managers, particularly at the back, where we’d think at least one asset is essential.
Koen Casteels (5.5m) will likely be one of the most selected ‘keepers, and rightly so based on points returns, but with cheaper defensive options in the team and more points available in the outfield, he could be less attractive for more seasoned managers. Nacho Fernandez (5.5m) is likely to be more backed, coming into the season as 24-25’s best defender for points-per-match (averaging 6.6 PPM) as well as ranking highly for passing accuracy, defensive actions, and set-piece threat. Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat (5.5m) ran him close last season, but now faces rotation risk with new signing Al-Thani and was already benched in the Super Cup final.
Elsewhere, Álvarez (5.0m) is arguably the best defensive budget pick for attacking returns, scoring last season and netting in the Super Cup vs Al-Ahli, but he’s pipped to the ‘value’ post by Jehad Thakri (4.5m), who was the third for both accurate passes and defensive actions among Al-Qadsiah defenders, with 5.2 PPM.
At the other end, Mateo Retegui (9.5m) is surely worth a punt, Serie A’s top scorer is expected to be among the top 5 forwards in terms of goals this season, whilst Julian Quiñones (9.5m) has been reclassified as a midfielder, but is expected to play as second striker or winner and could build on the huge 219 point haul of 24-25, in which he scored 20 goals, created 11 big chances and had the third best points-per-match at 7.8 PPM.
Fernando Fernández (6.5m) offers a cheaper way into the midfield, and was top for defensive actions amongst Qadsiah midfielders last year, whilst Antonio Puertas (7.5m) was the most reliable passer and defensive contributor, securing 13 bonus points last season as well as creating 15 big chances and delivering 79 shots on target.