A growing number of the world's greatest players have begun to play for clubs in the Saudi Pro League in recent years. Saudi Arabia continues to work to elevate its name in world football, with the country all but confirmed as the host for the 2034 World Cup and 11 new stadiums being planned to be constructed. Some might be surprised to see Neymar missing from the rankings. Although the Brazilian has been a fine player throughout his career, he is still injured and has yet to do enough in Saudi Arabia to justify a place.

The following rankings factors in the achievements in the league, as opposed to whatever brilliance the forwards conjured up elsewhere. Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably the biggest name to move to the gulf state having departed Manchester United in 2022. With that in mind, here are the greatest strikers ever to play in the Saudi Pro League.

10 Karim Benzema

Al-Ittihad

Although nowhere near as prolific for Al-Ittihad over the last few seasons as he was for Real Madrid over 14 glorious years, Karim Benzema has started to find his feet in the Saudi Pro-League. So comfortable on the biggest stage, it was no surprise to see Benzema get on the score-sheet for Al-Ittihad in the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in a three-nil win over Auckland. A scorer in the semi-final of their two-one win over Al-Wehda in the 2024 Saudi Super Cup, Benzema was unable to help his side lift the trophy, as they were cast aside by four goals to one in the final against Al-Hilal.

9 Sadio Mane

Al-Nassr

Making a lethal strike force up front for Al-Nassr with Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane may not have quite hit the brilliant best he showed the world while playing for Liverpool, but he has still demonstrated that he is a dangerous customer, with 19 goals in 50 appearances across all competitions while in Saudi Arabia. At 32 years of age, the Senegalese all-time top goalscorer will be looking to get back to regular scoring ways and get himself into the top 10 scoring list for the league. Any doubting Mane's fitness at this point in his career need only look at his game time, as he played 46 games for Al-Nassr throughout the 2023/24 season, as rumours persist he may join Al-Ittihad.

8 Yasser Al-Qahtani

Al-Hilal

As captain of Saudi Arabia and with the distinction of winning 108 caps for his country, Yasser Al-Qahtani scored 140 goals in all competitions for Saudi Arabian clubs. A goalscorer in the 2006 World Cup in a game against Tunisia, Al-Qahtani was a serial winner in Saudi Arabian football, who was once offered a trial by Manchester City under the tenure of former manager, the late Sven Goran Eriksson. Having scored in Saudi's Asian Cup semi-final win over Japan in 2007, they went on to lose the final by a goal to nil to Iraq. This was the year Al-Qahtani was named Asian footballer of the year.

7 Bafetimbi Gomis

Al-Hilal

French centre-forward Bafetimbi Gomis' four seasons with Al-Hilal between 2018 and 2022 came sandwiched between two good goal scoring spells at Turkish giants Galatasaray. Known by Premier League fans, Gomis has earned caps for the French national team, scoring in friendlies against Ecuador and Italy. With 105 goals in 146 Al-Hilal games in all competitions, he scored the injury-time winner over Urawa Red Diamonds in the 2019 AFC Champions League fInal, winning the tournament again with the club in 2021. Gomis scored 17 goals in 71 games for Swansea accross all competitions, including the winning goal over Arsenal in the Premier League in 2014.

6 Mohammed Al-Sahlawi

Al-Qadsiah, Al-Nassr, Al-Shabab, Al-Taawoun

Currently fourth in the all-time top scorers in the Saudi Pro-League, Saudi Arabian striker Mohammed Al-Sahlawi had a decent strike rate for the national team as well, scoring 27 goals in 42 caps, which included appearances at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. It was with Al-Nassr that Al-Sahlawi is most associated with, for whom he hit double figures for six seasons, with the high point coming in 2014/15, when he scored 21. That was the season he won one of his three Saudi Pro League titles with Al-Nassr, for whom he scored 120 goals in 252 games across all competitions.

5 Aleksandar Mitrovic

Al-Hilal

Considered one of the best ever Serbian players, striker Aleksandar Mitrovic did not go to Saudi Arabia as a way to wind down to retirement. Still very much at the peak of his powers when he joined Al-Hilal in 2023, he has very impressive strike rate in all competitions for the club, which given his age, would make it very realistic to target 100 goals for the club within the next two seasons. The Serbian striker eclipsed Ronaldo in the 2024 Saudi Super Cup Final scoring two goals in Al-Hilal's four-one win over Al-Nassr, while as of the end of the 2023/24 season his strike ratio was 40 goals in 43 games in all competitions for Al-Hilal.

4 Nasser Al-Shamrani

Al-Wehda, Al-Shabab, Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad

Saudi Arabian striker Nasser Al-Shamrani had a long and prolific career in the Saudi Pro League over the course of 18 seasons, making him the league's all-time top scorer since its rebrand in 2000. It is with Al-Shabab where he achieved his greatest success in terms of goals and honours. Although he didn't hit the numbers others within these rankings did in a single season, he merits a place above far bigger names for his sheer consistency in hitting double figures when it comes to goals year in year out. This reliability also played out in his international career, scoring a goal pretty much every four games for the Saudi Arabian national team.

3 Omar Al-Somah

Al-Ahli

The Syrian international striker had an excellent goal ratio during his eight seasons at Al-Ahli, a period in which saw the club win a Saudi Pro League title in 2015/16, with Al-Somah scoring 27 goals in just 22 games, which included a hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Al-Nassr. Back in 2012, the striker had a successful trial with Nottingham Forest, but with the club unable to acquire a work permit, the move never materialsed, but his goal per game ratio in the Saudi Pro League of 0.8 goals per game is not to be sniffed at, making Al-Somah worthy of his high ranking on this list.

2 Abderrazak Hamdallah

Al-Nassr, AI-Ittihad, Al-Shabab

Although not a household name, Morocco international Abderrazak Hamdallah has an exceptional goal-scoring record in the Saudi Pro League. As a 27-year-old, he joined Al-Nassr in in 2018. While Ronaldo grows frustrated that Al-Nassr cannot build a team to win the title, Hamdallah's first season at the club saw him bang in 34 goals, bringing with it the Saudi Pro League title. His subsequent move to Al-Ittihad brought further success. His three seasons there saw him score 52 goals in 63 games, a prolific return that enabled the club to seal the title in 2023. Nicknamed the executioner, Hamdallah was the world’s top scorer in 2019, his 35 goals was a tally one higher than Lionel Messi.

1 Cristiano Ronaldo

Al-Nassr

Although other players have more goals overall in the Saudi Pro League, Cristiano Ronaldo set a new league record in 2024, when he became the first player to score 35 league goals in a season in the Saudi Pro League. "I don't follow records, records follow me," said Ronaldo, after his two goals for Al-Nassr against Al-Ittihad meant the Portuguese overtook Abderrazak Hamdallah's total of 34 in the 2018/19 season. Over the course of the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons, Ronaldo hit 58 Al-Nassr goals in 64 games in all competitions, as he strides on purposefully towards possibly scoring 1000 career goals. His goal against Scotland in the Nations League means he now has 901 goals.