Saudi El Clasico
Football rivalry in Saudi Arabia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saudi El Clásico (Arabic: كلاسيكو السعودية) is the name given to any football match between rival clubs Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad. It is contested at least twice a year in the Saudi Pro League competition and often in other competitions. The rivalry comes about as Riyadh and Jeddah are the two largest cities in Saudi Arabia.[1]
Native nameكلاسيكو السعودية (Clasico Alsaudia)
LocationSaudi Arabia
Teams
First meetingAl-Ittihad 2–0 Al-Hilal
Friendly
(27 July 1962)
Friendly
(27 July 1962)
| Native name | كلاسيكو السعودية (Clasico Alsaudia) |
|---|---|
| Location | Saudi Arabia |
| Teams | |
| First meeting | Al-Ittihad 2–0 Al-Hilal Friendly (27 July 1962) |
| Latest meeting | Al-Ittihad 1–1 Al-Hilal Pro League (12 February 2026) |
| Stadiums | Kingdom Arena (Al-Hilal) King Abdullah Sports City (Al-Ittihad) |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | Official matches: 165 Unofficial matches: 15 Total matches: 180 |
| Most wins | Official matches: Al-Hilal (75) Unofficial matches: Al-Ittihad (9) Total matches: Al-Hilal (78) |
| Top scorer | Salem Al-Dawsari (11 goals) |
| Largest victory | Al-Hilal 5–0 Al-Ittihad Pro League (10 December 2009) |
History
The first-ever match between these two teams was in 1957. The two teams played a friendly match in Al-Saban Stadium in Jeddah which ended in a 8-0 for Al-Ittihad. 1961 The two sides played again in a friendly match which ended 7-1 for Al-Ittihad. In 1964, both teams met in the final of the King Cup in what would be the first final between these two teams and the first official match. Al-Ittihad defeated Al-Hilal 3–0 in the Al-Sayegh stadium in Riyadh to lift their fourth title.[2] Ahmed Bahja and Salem Al-Dawsari are the top scorers of the fixture with 10 goals each.[3][4] The clubs have met each other in 11 finals, with Al-Hilal winning 6 and Al-Ittihad winning 5.[5]
Statistics
Statistics as of 22 February 2025.[6][7][8]
| Competitions | Matches | Al-Hilal Wins |
Draws | Al-Ittihad Wins |
Al-Hilal Goals |
Al-Ittihad Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Pro League |
107 | 49 | 28 | 30 | 160 | 123 |
| King Cup |
18 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 26 | 29 |
| Crown Prince Cup |
11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 6 |
| Saudi Super Cup |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| Federation Cup |
16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 22 | 19 |
| AFC Champions League |
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 |
| Arab Competitions |
5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 |
| Total official matches | 165 | 75 | 45 | 45 | 245 | 190 |
| Al-Maseef Cup | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| International Friendship Tournament | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Together Against Terrorism Tournament | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Friendlies | 11 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 28 |
| Total matches | 180 | 78 | 48 | 57 | 266 | 216 |
Top scorers
Below is the list of players who have scored at least four goals in official meetings.
| Position | Name | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Salem Al-Dawsari |
Al-Hilal | 11 |
| 2 |  Ahmed Bahja |
Al-Hilal (6) Al-Ittihad (4) | 10 |
| 3 | Sameer Sultan |
Al-Hilal | 8 |
| Abdullah Al-Jamaan |
Al-Hilal | ||
| Al-Hasan Al-Yami |
Al-Ittihad | ||
 Thiago Neves |
Al-Hilal | ||
| Carlos Eduardo |
Al-Hilal | ||
| 8 | Sami Al-Jaber |
Al-Hilal | 7 |
| 9 | Hamzah Idris |
Al-Ittihad | 6 |
| Sérgio Ricardo |
Al-Hilal (3) Al-Ittihad (3) | ||
| Mohammed Noor |
Al-Ittihad | ||
| Mohammad Al-Shalhoub |
Al-Hilal | ||
| Nawaf Al-Abed |
Al-Hilal | ||
 Aleksandar Mitrović |
Al-Hilal | ||
Official match results
As of 21 September 2024. Source:[9][10]
Dates are in dd/mm/yyyy form.
- SF = Semi-finals
- QF = Quarter-finals
- R16 = Round of 16
- R32 = Round of 32
- GS = Group stage
- R1 = Round 1
- R2 = Round 2
- PO = Play-offs
Al-Hilal win Draw Al-Ittihad win
|
|
- Al-Hilal won 2–0 on penalties after both teams tied 1–1.
- Al-Ittihad won 9–8 on penalties after both teams tied 2–2.
- Al-Ittihad won 3–2 on penalties after both teams tied 0–0.
- Al-Ittihad won 8–7 on penalties after both teams tied 1–1.
- Al-Ittihad won 4–3 on penalties after both teams tied 0–0.
- Al-Hilal won 4–3 on penalties after both teams tied 2–2 on aggregate.
- Al-Hilal won 4–3 on penalties after both teams tied 0–0.
- Al-Ittihad won 4–1 on penalties after both teams tied 0–0.
- Al-Ittihad won 8–7 on penalties after both teams tied 2–2.
- Al-Ittihad won 5–4 on penalties after both teams tied 0–0.
- Al-Hilal won on away goals after tied 3–3 on aggregate.
- Al-Ittihad won 3–1 on penalties after both teams tied 2–2.
Friendlies
| Date | Matches | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 | ||
| 21 November 1957 | Al-Ittihad | 8–1 | Al-Hilal | Friendly |
| 27 July 1962 | Al-Ittihad | 2–0 | Al-Hilal | Friendly |
| 24 June 1969 | Al-Ittihad | 3–1 | Al-Hilal | Al-Maseef Cup |
| 26 June 1969 | Al-Ittihad | 1–0 | Al-Hilal | Al-Maseef Cup |
| 18 August 1969 | Al-Hilal | 3–5 | Al-Ittihad | Friendly |
| 20 January 1971 | Al-Ittihad | 6–3 | Al-Hilal | Friendly |
| 15 March 1984 | Al-Hilal | 0–1 | Al-Ittihad | Friendly |
| 10 March 1986 | Al-Ittihad | 3–1 | Al-Hilal | Friendly |
| 22 July 1986 | Al-Hilal | 0–0 | Al-Ittihad | Friendly |
| 2 October 1995 | Al-Ittihad | 0–0 | Al-Hilal | Friendly |
| 17 April 1998 | Al-Hilal | 4–1 | Al-Ittihad | Friendly |
| 11 May 1998 | Al-Ittihad | 2–4 | Al-Hilal | Friendly |
| 9 November 1998 | Al-Hilal | 0–0 | Al-Ittihad | Friendly |
| 18 August 2004 | Al-Ittihad | 3-2 | Al-Hilal | International Friendship Tournament |
| 11 February 2005 | Al-Hilal | 2–1 | Al-Ittihad | Together Against Terrorism Tournament |
| Al-Hilal wins | Draws | Al-Ittihad wins |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 9 |
Honours
The rivalry reflected in "El Clásico" matches comes about as Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal are the most successful football clubs in Saudi Arabia. As seen below, Al-Hilal leads the count in official titles won with 70 trophies, while Al-Ittihad has won 37 trophies. Only official trophies are counted.
| Al–Hilal[11] | Championship | Al–Ittihad[12] | Official |
|---|---|---|---|
| International (official) | |||
| 4 | AFC Champions League | 2 | Yes |
| 2 | Asian Super Cup | 0 | Yes |
| 2 | Asian Cup Winners Cup | 1 | Yes |
| 2 | Arab Champions League | 1 | Yes |
| 1 | Arab Super Cup | 0 | Yes |
| 1 | Arab Cup Winners' Cup | 0 | Yes |
| 2 | Gulf Club Champions Cup | 1 | Yes |
| Domestic (official) | |||
| 19 | Saudi League | 10 | Yes |
| 11 | King's Cup | 10 | Yes |
| 13 | Crown Prince Cup | 8 | Yes |
| 5 | Super Cup | 1 | Yes |
| 7 | Federation cup | 3 | Not official since 2007 |
| Other Domestic (Defunct, official) | |||
| 1 | Saudi Founder's Cup | 0 | Yes |
| Official Championships | |||
| 70 | Total | 37 | |