The Al Hilal Saudi Football Club, called Al Hilal, professional multi-sports club situated in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Its Arabic name is نادي الهلال السعودي. The Saudi Professional League is their league for football competition. Al Hilal translates to “the Crescent moon” in Arabic. With 66 official trophies won, they are the most decorated club in all of Asia. Along with a record 18 Professional League titles, they also own the record for the most continental trophies in Asia.Al Hilal, which founded on October 16, 1957, is one of only three teams to have competed in every Saudi Professional League season from the league’s founding in 1976.
In domestic competitions, Al Hilal has won a record nine Asian Football Confederation trophies, including the Asian Cup Winners Cup in 1997 and 2002, the Asian Super Cup in 2000, seven Saudi Federation Cup titles, ten King Cup titles, a record three Super Cup titles, and the Saudi Founder’s Cup. They have also won a record nine Professional League titles, thirteen Crown Prince Cup titles, and a record eight Asian Football Confederation trophies.That year, Mr. Abdul Rahman bin Saeed resigned as the Youth Club’s president, taking a number of notable individuals with him.
A new club founded in Riyadh on October 15, 1957, indicating that the time was right for the foundation of a top-tier club to support Saudi sports. The club’s original name was only in use for a single year before King Saud changed it to its current one on December 3, 1958. After attending a competition between the Olympic Club, Al Nassr, Al Riyadh, and Al-Kawkab clubs, he changed the name. Al-Hilal received both royal interest and grassroots backing from the moment the club was founded.Al Hilal in a transitional phase to rebuild the team could challenge both domestically and in the Champions League after winning back-to-back league titles and generally succeeding domestically. Since their last victory in the 1999–2000 campaign, Al Hilal has consistently failed in their continental pursuit. In 2014, 14 years after their last final appearance,
Al Hilal faced Western Sydney Wanderers in the AFC Champions League final. The Australian club won 1–0 on aggregate with some highly dubious refereeing decisions by Yuichi Nishimura (what the fans claim).A run of poor performances at the beginning of the 2016–17 campaign led to Gustavo Matosas‘ dismissal, and Ramón Díaz took over as manager. In addition to restructuring the team’s tactical structure and playing style, Diaz conditioned his players to swiftly absorb his ideology. Taking advantage of the fact that Al Hilal’s success over the years mostly attributed to academy players and important acquisitions,
the team already had but unable to synchronize or realize to its full potential. Due to his distribution skills, goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Mayouf brought back from Al-Ahli, as left and right backs. Yasser Al-Shahrani.Al Hilal led the domestic league and advanced to the 2017 AFC Champions League final the following season,
following the same pattern.
However,
they ultimately defeated by the Japanese team Urawa Red Diamonds 1-2 on aggregate following injuries to Carlos Eduardo (ACL tear) in the opening minutes of the first game and to Omar Kharbin (injury) in the second leg.
After the loss,
the team mentally collapsed and started a run of poor performances
that ultimately resulted in their elimination from the group stage of the next edition—their first elimination since 2010.
Al Hilal’s home games are currently held at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh,
which built in 1987 and can hold 67,000 spectators.
Occasionally, home games are also held at Prince Faisal bin Faisal Stadium,
which built in 1969 and is one of the oldest football stadiums in Saudi Arabia. Al Hilal and King Saud University in Riyadh inked a deal in 2017 that would allow
Al Hilal to utilize the university’s stadium for three seasons,
from 2017–18 to the end of 2019–20.
when finished, will eventually serve as the new location for both teams’
home games, and both clubs will have access to the entire array of sporting amenities under development.”