Al Nassr debut puts Saad Haqawi in spotlight as Saudi U21 contenders emerge

Saudi football fans will have several young talents to watch when the 2026-27 Jowy Elite League resumes with its second round on Sunday and Monday.

The Saudi Under-21 competition will stage matches on 30 and 31 August, although the meeting between defending champions Al Hazem and newly promoted Al Watan has been postponed until January.

Al Nassr will make their first appearance of the campaign when they host Al Jabalain in Riyadh. Their opening fixture, also against Al Watan, was rescheduled for 18 December.

The match should provide another opportunity to assess Saad Haqawi, who is expected to take on a more prominent role for Al Nassr Under-21s this season.

Haqawi impressed in last season’s Jowy Elite League campaign, although he was not regarded as the team’s leading player while Abdulmalik Al Jaber and Haider Abdulkarim were also involved.

Both players have been removed from Al Nassr’s Under-21 squad for the new season, giving Haqawi greater responsibility. That comes as the 20-year-old has also moved closer to the senior side under Australian manager Ange Postecoglou.

Haqawi was selected by Postecoglou for Al Nassr’s pre-season training camp in Portugal and featured in several matches. He has since been included in the senior squad for all three of their Roshn Saudi League games this season, although he has not played, and came on as a substitute in the King’s Cup match against Al-Diriyah.

Postecoglou appears keen to develop a player who first attracted significant attention under former Al Nassr manager Stefano Pioli in 2024-25. Haqawi made five appearances that season and provided an assist for Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo.

His next challenge will be to justify that faith both with the first team and as the main attacking figure for the Under-21 side, beginning against Al Jabalain.

Goalscorers in focus

Haqawi’s creativity will need to be matched by a forward capable of converting chances, and Asim Mohammed is expected to fill that role.

Asim was Al Nassr’s leading scorer in last season’s Jowy Elite League, finding the net 10 times after benefiting from the supply provided by the talented players around him.

The departures of Haider Abdulkarim and Abdulmalik Al Jaber could affect his service, but Al Nassr still have players capable of creating opportunities, including Haqawi and Abdulrahman Sufyani.

Asim will be looking to maintain his attacking form and catch Postecoglou’s eye as Al Nassr consider their options in attack alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Abdullah Al-Hamdan and Mohammed Maran.

Ammar Al-Ghamdi is another forward with an immediate chance to open his account this season. The Al-Ittihad striker failed to score in the first round, when his side drew 0-0 with Damac the only draw recorded in the competition so far.

Al-Ittihad’s next opponents are Al-Tadhamon, who were promoted this season and suffered the biggest defeat in the history of the competition in the opening round, losing 10-1 to Al-Ettifaq.

That result propelled Al-Ettifaq striker Mohammed Al-Essa to the top of the scoring charts after he scored four times. Al-Ghamdi will hope to match that impact, although his own record means expectations are already high.

He scored 14 goals last season, including four in four play-off matches, underlining his ability to influence important games.

Fateh and Ahli forwards meet

Al-Ghamdi was not the only player to excel in the play-offs. Jefferson Ramos, the Cape Verde-born Al-Fateh striker known as “N Ras”, scored six goals during that stage.

His goals took Al-Fateh to the final, although he did not score in the only match in which he failed to find the net the final, which Al-Fateh lost 3-1 to Al Hazem.

Ramos has continued that form at the start of the new campaign. He scored a hat-trick in Al-Fateh’s 6-0 victory over Al-Ansar in the opening round, leaving him second in the scoring standings, one goal behind Al-Ettifaq’s Al-Essa.

His next test is a difficult away fixture against Al Ahli in Jeddah. Ramos will also face a direct challenge from Ziyad Aba, the Al Ahli winger who shares second place with him in the scoring list.

Aba scored a hat-trick in Al Ahli’s 3-1 victory over Al Fayha and has quickly become one of the club’s main hopes for the new season. Al Ahli finished 15th last term and will be determined to avoid another disappointing campaign.

Brazilian forward Ricardo Matias made a strong impression during the second half of last season and scored several important goals, but the emergence of a Saudi talent such as Aba could prove even more valuable to Al Ahli and the national team in the longer term.

However, maintaining his fast start will be demanding. Al-Fateh were one of six teams to keep a clean sheet in the opening round, suggesting Aba and Al Ahli face a well-organised defensive unit.