The traditional sport of Saudi Arabia was camel racing. It used to be and still is very popular in Saudi Arabia. The history of the people is closely linked with their camels, and the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival north-east of Riyadh now draws some 38,000 animals over a season lasting more than a month, with hundreds of millions of riyals in prize money. In the recent times, Soccer (football) is regarded as the national sport and is the most popular sport in Saudi Arabia.

Watching football in Saudi Arabia Watching football in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has won the AFC Asian Cup three times, in 1984, 1988 and 1996, and finished runner-up on three further occasions, in 1992, 2000 and 2007. The national team has reached seven FIFA World Cups. Its best run remains the round of 16 in 1994, lit up by Saeed Al-Owairan’s solo goal against Belgium, and its most famous single result is the 2–1 win over Argentina in the opening match at Qatar in 2022. The current captain is Salem Al-Dawsari, twice AFC Player of the Year and the man who scored that winner against Argentina.

Another well-known Saudi footballer is Mohamed Al-Deayea, a retired goalkeeper who is still the most-capped player in the country’s history with 173 appearances between 1993 and 2006. He was named in four World Cup squads and played at three of those tournaments, and was voted Asia’s Goalkeeper of the Century by the IFFHS in 1999. The all-time leading scorer is Majed Abdullah, the “Arabian Pelé”, with 72 goals.

Domestic football has been transformed since June 2023, when the Public Investment Fund took controlling stakes in Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli. Cristiano Ronaldo had joined Al-Nassr six months earlier, and a wave of high-profile signings followed. Al-Hilal are the most successful club in the country with 19 league titles and hold the record four Asian club championships, while Al-Ahli won the AFC Champions League Elite in both 2025 and 2026. Al-Hilal also beat Manchester City 4–3 at the expanded FIFA Club World Cup in 2025.

Saudi Arabia first appeared in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. The country has won four Olympic medals, none of them gold: a silver for Hadi Souan Somayli in the 400m hurdles and a bronze for Khaled Al-Eid in individual show jumping, both at Sydney in 2000; a team show jumping bronze at London in 2012; and a silver for Tareg Hamedi in karate at Tokyo in 2020. Its Paralympic athletes have done rather better, with six medals, all in athletics, including Abdulrahman Al-Qurashi’s gold in the 100m T53 at Paris in 2024.

Contrary to what is often said, Saudi Arabia has competed at the Winter Olympics. The alpine skier Fayik Abdi became the first Saudi — and the first Gulf — Winter Olympian at Beijing in 2022, and the country sent two athletes to Milan-Cortina in 2026. Saudi women first competed at the Olympics at London in 2012, when Sarah Attar ran the 800m and Wojdan Shaherkani entered the judo. Girls’ physical education was approved in state schools in 2017, women were admitted to football stadiums for the first time in January 2018, and a women’s national football team played its first international in 2022.

Since about 2018 the Kingdom has spent very heavily on hosting international sport, from the Dakar Rally and a Formula 1 Grand Prix to boxing world title fights, the WTA Finals, the world’s richest horse race and the Esports World Cup, and it is due to stage the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, the 2034 Asian Games and the 2034 FIFA World Cup. That expansion has not been uninterrupted: during 2026 the Formula 1 race was cancelled, the WTA Finals moved away a year early, the snooker Masters was dropped, the Esports World Cup was relocated to Paris, an Olympic esports partnership was ended and the Asian Winter Games were reassigned to Kazakhstan.

Below are details of sports, sporting events and sports people related to Saudi Arabia. Is there something missing? If you know of something that should be listed here, please let us know.

Popular sports of Saudi Arabia

  • Football (Soccer), Camel Racing, equestrian and horse racing, falconry, athletics, karate and taekwondo, motorsport, esports

Traditional or Regional Sports

  • Camel racing — still a major competitive sport, governed by the Saudi Camel Racing Federation and run on tracks such as Taif. The King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, held for around six weeks from December at Al-Sayahid near Riyadh, is the centrepiece, and camel racing was a medal sport at the 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games, where Saudi Arabia won four golds.
  • Camel beauty contests (mazayin) — judged on head, neck, nose, hump and posture, and run alongside the racing at the same festivals.
  • Falconry — organised by the Saudi Falcons Club, whose King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival at Malham north of Riyadh is billed as the largest falconry competition in the world, with speed and beauty categories and prize money in the tens of millions of riyals. Falconry was inscribed on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list in 2011, with Saudi Arabia among the listed nations.
  • Endurance riding and Arabian horse racing — both run by the Saudi Arabian Equestrian Federation, which also covers show jumping and dressage, the disciplines that have produced the country’s only Olympic equestrian medals.
  • Al-Ardah Al-Najdiyah, the sword dance performed with drums and poetry, was added to the UNESCO list in 2015, and Al-Heda’a, the tradition of calling a camel herd, in 2022.

Saudi Arabia Sporting Success

  • AFC Asian Cup champions in 1984, 1988 and 1996, with runner-up finishes in 1992, 2000 and 2007.
  • Saudi Arabia won the 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship in Scotland, beating the hosts on penalties in the final. It remains the country’s only FIFA world title, and the only time an Asian side has won a men’s FIFA tournament.
  • The national team reached the round of 16 at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, their best finish, and beat Argentina 2–1 at Qatar in 2022 in one of the great World Cup upsets.
  • Hadi Souan Somayli won silver in the 400m hurdles at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, the first Olympic medal won by a Saudi athlete in athletics.
  • Khaled Al-Eid took bronze in individual show jumping at Sydney in 2000, and a Saudi quartet won team jumping bronze at London in 2012.
  • Tareg Hamedi won silver in the +75kg karate at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, in a final that ended in unusual circumstances when he was disqualified for excessive contact while leading.
  • Abdulrahman Al-Qurashi won gold in the 100m T53 at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, one of six Paralympic medals for the Kingdom, all of them in athletics.
  • Al-Hilal have won four Asian club championships, more than any other club in Asia, and 19 Saudi league titles.
  • Al-Ahli won the AFC Champions League Elite in 2025 and retained it in 2026, both finals played at home in Jeddah.
  • Al-Hilal beat Manchester City 4–3 after extra time in the round of 16 at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup before losing in the quarter-finals.
  • Saudi Arabia finished fourth at the 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games, which it hosted in Riyadh, with 57 medals from 21 sports.

Great athletes from Saudi Arabia

  • Mohamed Al-Deayea (football) — goalkeeper and the most-capped Saudi player of all time with 173 appearances, named Asia’s Goalkeeper of the Century by the IFFHS in 1999.
  • Majed Abdullah (football) — the “Arabian Pelé” and the national team’s record scorer with 72 goals.
  • Sami Al-Jaber (football) — forward who played at four World Cups and won 156 caps.
  • Saeed Al-Owairan (football) — scorer of the celebrated solo goal against Belgium at the 1994 World Cup.
  • Salem Al-Dawsari (football) — captain of club and country, twice AFC Player of the Year and scorer of the winning goal against Argentina in 2022.
  • Hussein Abdulghani (football) — also known as Hussein Sulaimani, a full-back who won 138 caps between 1996 and 2018, played at three World Cups, won the Asian Cup at 19 and was named the best Saudi player of 2006. He retired in 2020.
  • Hadi Souan Somayli (athletics) — Olympic 400m hurdles silver medallist in 2000.
  • Khaled Al-Eid (equestrian) — Olympic show jumping bronze medallist in 2000.
  • Tareg Hamedi (karate) — Olympic silver medallist at Tokyo 2020 and a world championship medallist.
  • Abdulrahman Al-Qurashi (para athletics) — Paralympic champion in the 100m T53 in 2024 and bronze medallist in 2020.
  • Osamah Alshanqiti (para athletics) — the Kingdom’s first Paralympic champion, in the triple jump F12 at Beijing in 2008.
  • Dunya Abutaleb (taekwondo) — the first Saudi woman to qualify for the Olympic Games on merit, a world championship silver medallist in 2025 and fifth at Paris 2024.
  • Sarah Attar and Wojdan Shaherkani — the first Saudi women to compete at an Olympic Games, in athletics and judo respectively, at London in 2012.
  • Fayik Abdi (alpine skiing) — the first Saudi athlete to compete at a Winter Olympic Games, at Beijing in 2022.

Saudi Arabia Sports trivia

  • The Paris-Dakar rally was an annual rally raid event that finished in Dakar Senegal. Since 2020, the race is held entirely in Saudi Arabia.
  • In 2022, the Saudi Arabia team achieved one of the greatest upsets in FIFA World Cup history, defeating one of the tournament favorites Argentina 2-1 in their opening game. They still finished bottom of the group.
  • Saudi Arabia has competed at the Winter Olympics, despite having no snow sports of its own. Alpine skier Fayik Abdi, born in California to Saudi parents, was the first, at Beijing in 2022.
  • The Saudi Cup at the King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh is the richest horse race in the world, with a purse of US$20 million and $10 million to the winner.
  • Saudi Arabia hosted the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship but went out in the group stage; Portugal won it. Four months later a different Saudi side won the FIFA U-16 World Championship in Scotland.
  • Almost the entire Saudi national football squad now plays at home. Only one member of the 2026 World Cup squad, Saud Abdulhamid, was based outside the Saudi Pro League.
  • Riyadh has staged undisputed world heavyweight title fights, and in January 2026 hosted the WWE Royal Rumble — the first time in the event’s history it had been held outside North America.
  • Dozens of camels are disqualified from Saudi beauty contests each year for cosmetic tampering, including Botox, lip fillers and hormone injections.
  • Women were not admitted to Saudi football stadiums until January 2018, when they were seated in designated family sections at a match in Jeddah.
  • The Jeddah Corniche Circuit, used for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix since 2021, is the fastest street circuit in Formula 1, with an average lap speed of around 250km/h.

Saudi Arabia at major events

Past sporting events hosted in Saudi Arabia

Upcoming sporting events in Saudi Arabia

Annual sporting events held in Saudi Arabia

  • Dakar rally-raid — run entirely in Saudi Arabia since 2020, in January.
  • Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix — held at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit since 2021, though the 2026 race was cancelled. A permanent circuit is under construction at Qiddiya near Riyadh.
  • Formula E — a Saudi round has been held since 2018, at Diriyah until 2024 and since then at Jeddah.
  • The Saudi Cup meeting at the King Abdulaziz Racetrack, Riyadh, in February.
  • King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, near Riyadh, from December, and the King Abdulaziz Falconry Festival at Malham, from late November.
  • Roshn Saudi League — the 18-club national football championship, running from August to May, along with the King Cup.
  • Riyadh Season — an entertainment season from October that now carries much of the Kingdom’s boxing, tennis and combat sport programme, including the Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition.
  • WWE Crown Jewel, held in Riyadh most years since 2018.

Sporting Facilities in Saudi Arabia

  • King Fahd Sports City Stadium, Riyadh — opened in 1987 with a capacity of about 58,000, and closed for a reconstruction that will take it to roughly 70,000 seats. The main venue for the national football team.
  • King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah — a 62,000-seat stadium known as the Shining Jewel, opened in 2014 and the venue for the 2025 and 2026 AFC Champions League Elite finals.
  • Kingdom Arena, Riyadh — a large indoor arena used for boxing world title fights, WWE events and concerts.
  • Jeddah Corniche Circuit — the 6.17km, 27-corner street circuit used for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
  • Qiddiya Speed Park — a permanent motor racing circuit under construction near Riyadh, intended to take over the Grand Prix.
  • King Abdulaziz Racetrack, Riyadh — home of the Saudi Cup.
  • anb arena, Riyadh — an 8,000-seat venue built for the Six Kings Slam tennis event.
  • Al-Sayahid, near Riyadh — the 225 square kilometre site of the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival.
  • A programme of new and rebuilt stadiums is under way across Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar, Abha, Neom and Qiddiya for the 2034 FIFA World Cup.