Saudi Pro League top scorers: Ronaldo makes history with Golden Boot triumph

Carlo Garganese

• 28 May 2024 09:08 BST
• 11 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Neymar were among the stars who battled it out to be named the Saudi Pro League top scorer in 2023/24.

Al-Nassr star Ronaldo already had experience of playing and scoring regularly in Saudi Arabia, after netting 14 times in last season's competition.

Ronaldo scored two league hat-tricks in February 2023, including a stunning four-goal haul against Al-Wehda, although his team ended up finishing second to Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League table last season.

Al-Ittihad already had prolific goalscorer Abderrazak Hamdallah in their ranks and this season they added Real Madrid great Benzema.

READ MORE: Saudi Pro League summer transfers 2023: All the Done Deals

Benzema joined Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia after an incredible 14 seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu, where he won the Champions League five times.

Striker Benzema is younger than Ronaldo and still playing at a high level - he was the Ballon d'Or winner in 2022 and would have played at the World Cup for France had he not been injured.

In statistics that will worry Saudi Pro League defenders, Benzema scored 75 goals across his last two seasons with Real Madrid.

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Al-Ittihad also signed N'Golo Kante from Chelsea and Liverpool star Fabinho, so Benzema had an impressive supporting cast.

Manchester United and Real Madrid great Ronaldo also has a strong group of team-mates.

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Brazilian attacker Talisca was with him last season and they have also been joined by new signings Sadio Mane, Seko Fofana, Otavio, Aymeric Laporte and Marcelo Brozovic.

Last year's third-placed team and King's Cup winners Al-Hilal, traditionally the team to beat in the Saudi Pro League, looked strong after bringing in Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom, Ruben Neves, Mitrovic and Kalidou Koulibaly. But they saved the best until last, with Neymar agreeing to join the club.

Al-Ahli landed a host of star names like Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez, Allan Saint-Maximin and Franck Kessie.

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Steven Gerrard and Al-Ettifaq brought in Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, with their attack led by Moussa Dembele.

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Therefore a thrilling battle took place for Saudi Pro League glory and there was a similarly exciting race in the top goalscorer charts.

This page was updated throughout the 2023/24 season and the final standings can now be seen here documenting the top scorers in the Saudi Pro League.

Saudi Pro League top scorers 2023/24

Cristiano Ronaldo has finished as the Saudi Pro League top scorer this season and made history in the process.

Ronaldo was locked in an entertaining Golden Boot battle with the likes of Aleksandar Mitrovic and Karim Benzema in the goal rankings for much of the year. But as Mitrovic suffered an injury towards the end of the campaign and Benzema's form and fitness dropped off, Ronaldo surged to victory.

Some of the biggest names playing in Saudi Arabia featured prominently in the Golden Boot race, but it was in-form Ronaldo who ended up top of the standings with 35 strikes, the most goals of any player in the 2023/24 season. It is also the competition's single-season record.

Ronaldo was on superb form throughout and the Portugal great finished with a seven-goal lead in the Saudi Pro League Golden Boot race.

He scored in a 4-1 win for Al-Nassr away against Al-Taawoun on December 30 to become the first player to reach 20 goals in the Saudi Pro League this season and later became the only player to hit 30 and 35.

Ronaldo's lead at the top of the scoring standings came under threat from Mitrovic, who netted twice as leaders Al-Hilal beat Al-Nassr 3-0 on December 1 and got another double in the 3-1 win over Al-Raed as part of a stunning run that saw him score in 11 consecutive Saudi Pro League games.

That Mitrovic streak was finally ended towards the end of the campaign and Ronaldo remained the leader despite serving a suspension as Al-Nassr drew a thriller 4-4 with Al-Hazm before going without a goal in the defeat against Al-Raed.

Ronaldo's lead increased once more when his penalty downed Al-Ahli before he got his second hat-trick of the season against Al-Tai.

And that remarkable run of form continued with his third hat-trick of the campaign as Al-Nassr obliterated Abha 8-0. He later added a fourth treble against Al-Wehda in May.

Mitrovic had rare outings without scoring against Damac and Al-Ettifaq but bounced back with a double against Al-Shabab on March 30. However, he had too much work to do to catch Ronaldo and finished second despite scoring six goals in the month of May.

After his heroics in leading Al-Nassr to glory in the Arab Club Champions Cup, Ronaldo was forced to miss his team's Saudi Pro League opener against Al-Ettifaq due to an injury sustained in the final.

That was a blow for Ronaldo, who had scored six goals in a brilliant Champions Cup campaign to warm up for the league season in style by winning his first silverware in Saudi Arabia.

And his absence proved costly as Al-Nassr lost to Steven Gerrard's Al-Ettifaq, with Moussa Dembele - who went on to reach 12 goals this season - among the scorers.

Portugal great Ronaldo was back in action for Al-Nassr's second match, but his team suffered a shock home defeat to Al-Taawoun, so the forward's fine displays since then have come at an ideal time for both him and his team to kickstart the Saudi Pro League campaign.

Ronaldo already has two hat-tricks this season, scoring a treble as Al-Nassr thrashed Al-Fateh 5-0 early in the campaign. He also set up one of the two goals scored by Sadio Mane in what was a fantastic outing for the Arab Club Champions Cup winners.

It was a stunning performance from Ronaldo, who produced three lethal finishes. But his flick to set up Mane was arguably his best moment. That treble has helped to propel him to the summit in the early Saudi scoring standings and he has kept the position since.

Al-Nassr also stormed to a massive 5-1 away win over Al-Hazm, with Ronaldo scoring once and adding two assists in another fine performance. Mane was also on target once again.

Additionally, Ronaldo struck two penalties as Al-Nassr defeated Al-Shabab 4-0 and then scored in Matchday 6 as his team defeated Al-Raed, before grabbing another double as Al-Nassr won 4-3 in a crunch clash with Al-Ahli.

Some of his most notable strikes were winning goals as Al-Nassr battled to 2-1 wins over Al-Tai and Damac.

Ronaldo netted a trademark free-kick against Damac to bolster his position in the Saudi scoring standings and also netted twice in a 3-0 home win for Al-Nassr against Al-Okhdood in November, an outing that included a stunning and audacious 40-yard lob.

A super strike from outside the box as Ronaldo's team defeated Al-Khaleej 2-0 to remain close to leaders Al-Hilal in the standings was another standout moment.

Ronaldo also struck twice in the dramatic 5-2 win over Al-Ittihad on December 26. His team-mate Mane also scored a double, while Anderson Talisca was on the mark too.

With 35 goals Ronaldo made Saudi Pro League history, while team-mates Mane and Talisca were part of a large group of players chasing him. Talisca got up to 16 goals, with Mane on 13.

Talisca was among Ronaldo's closest challengers in the Golden Boot race but an injury ended his hopes as he did not play from late February onwards.

Al-Nassr star Talisca already has a proven track record in Saudi Arabia after netting 20 Pro League goals in each of the last two seasons.

He was the player who starred for Al-Nassr in their match at Al-Feiha, netting twice in a 3-1 win, while he also had a double against Al-Riyadh. He scored a hat-trick in Al-Nassr's thrilling 4-4 draw with Al-Hazm on February 29, a match Ronaldo missed through suspension.

Abderrazak Hamdallah and Benzema both feature in the goalscoring standings in Saudi Arabia. Benzema had an unusual game for Al-Ittihad in the 1-1 draw with Al-Taawoun, scoring at both ends of the pitch, cancelling out his own strike with an unfortunate own goal. He followed that up with a goal in the 2-2 draw with Al-Hazm.

Benzema scored his first Saudi Pro League hat-trick on November 10 as Al-Ittihad won 4-2 against Abha.

Hamdallah had 19 goals, while the hat-trick has helped Benzema up to nine. The former Real Madrid striker initially impressed after scoring his first goal in Saudi Arabia on Matchday 3 against Al-Riyadh, but more recently has struggled to find the net, with his last strike coming on November 30.

There have been a total of 17 hat-tricks so far this season, with four of the most recent five all being from Al-Nassr players. Ronaldo had three of those (and four for the season in total) and Talisca's hat-trick feat followed Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scoring a treble in Al-Hilal's 7-0 win over Abha. Karl Toko Ekambi, meanwhile, put Al-Ittihad to the sword in May.

Previously, Mitrovic scored a hat-trick as Al-Hilal came from behind to beat Al-Ittihad 4-3 in an epic encounter. While that match in September was the highlight, the ex-Fulham forward has enjoyed an impressively consistent campaign and sits not far behind Ronaldo in the chasing pack.

Odion Ighalo also scored a treble as Al-Wehda beat Damac 4-2, while Bernard Mensah was another hat-trick scorer for Al-Tai, even though his team lost 4-3 to Al-Ettifaq.

Cristian Tello also scored three times in a match, doing so as Al-Fateh thumped Al-Wehda 5-1, while Damac's Georges-Kevin Nkoudou put Abha to the sword.

Two of the hat-tricks were scored on the opening weekend. Roberto Firmino made a stunning start to life at his new club, scoring a hat-trick on his debut for Al-Ahli as they defeated Al-Hazm 3-1.

The former Liverpool star netted a fantastic treble in the first match of the new Saudi Pro League season, though he then endured a long goalless run. He has got back on track of late but still only struck six times since the opening day, giving him nine goals overall.

Another new arrival to the league, Malcom, started with a treble in week one. Al-Hilal won 3-1 at Abha in their first match, with the former Barcelona winger scoring all the goals.

He has since moved on to 15 goals for the campaign after becoming the first player to score two hat-tricks this season, by netting another treble on November 25 as Al-Hilal smashed Al-Hazm 9-0. Ronaldo later matched that feat by scoring a second hat-trick and then became the outright leader with three.

Elsewhere, Firas Al-Buraikan, the highest-scoring Saudi Araba international who played in the Pro League last season, was impressing. Al-Buraikan moved from Al-Fateh to Al-Ahli early in the campaign and had 17 goals, while former Rangers striker Fashion Sakala finished on 19.

Unbeaten Al-Hilal beat Al-Nassr by 14 points after 34 matches of the campaign. Al-Ittihad were surprisingly down in fifth position.

As for the Golden Boot, Ronaldo has successfully fended off the challenge from Mitrovic, Talisca and Benzema in a campaign to remember.

Saudi Pro League top scorers 2022/23

Abderrazak Hamdallah was the top scorer in the Saudi Pro League in the 2022/23 season.

The Morocco international starred for champions Al-Ittihad, netting 21 goals in just 26 top-flight appearances.

Hamdallah narrowly beat Al-Nassr attacking midfielder Talisca to the Golden Boot crown. Talisca scored 20 times to finish just behind Hamdallah.

Odion Ighalo claimed third place in the standings after scoring 19 times for Al-Hilal. He had won the Golden Boot in the 2021/22 campaign.

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Firas Al-Buraikan was the top Saudi player, scoring 17 goals for Al-Fateh, while Cristiano Ronaldo came in fifth place despite only joining halfway through the season.

Ronaldo impressively netted 14 times in only 16 Saudi Pro League outings.

Abderrazak Hamdallah is a three-time Golden Boot winner after his most recent success in 2022/23.

He previously came out on top in 2018/19 and 2019/20, before successes were claimed by Bafétimbi Gomis and Odion Ighalo.

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In scoring 34 times in the 2018/19 campaign, Hamdallah set the Saudi Pro League record for most goals in a season. However, if they can stay fit, there was speculation over whether Ronaldo or Benzema would challenge that milestone and that indeed proved to be the case with the Al-Nassr star's history-making 2023/2024 season.

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Al-Nassr great Majed Abdullah is the top all-time Saudi Pro League goalscorer. He played in the league between 1977 and 1997 and remarkably scored 189 goals in 194 games.

Two players from the modern era, Nasser Al-Shamrani and Omar Al Somah, are on the podium with Abdullah.

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Abderrazak Hamdallah is already up to sixth place overall, having netted 110 goals in just 113 appearances as of the start of this season.