Al Diriyah v Al Nassr: Full lineups confirmed for Saudi King’s Cup Round of 32
Al Diriyah will face Al Nassr at Al‑Awwal Park in Riyadh in a Saudi King’s Cup 2026-27 Round of 32 tie on Tuesday, August 18, 2026. Both clubs have published their starting XIs and benches ahead of the fixture.
Al Diriyah earned promotion to the Saudi Pro League after finishing third in the Saudi First Division and opened their SPL campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Al Ahli, conceded via a 25th-minute strike from Eduard Spertsyan. The hosts were described as having put in a solid performance against a stronger opponent in that league opener and were noted as likely to push Al Nassr. Al Nassr enter the match as the reigning Saudi Pro League holders and began their title defence with a 3-0 victory over Al Fateh, with goals from Angelo Gabriel, Joao Felix, and Samu Costa. The report also noted doubts about Cristiano Ronaldo’s participation and described Al Nassr as having a much stronger squad.
Starting XI for Al Diriyah: Nikola Vasilj; Abdulaziz Al-Faraj, Qaseem Lajami, Berat Djimsiti, Omar Colley; Hussain Al-Qahtani, Óscar Rodríguez, Abdulellah Al-Malki; Hattan Bahebri, Gaëtan Laborde, Georges-Kévin N’Koudou. Bench: Waleed Abdullah (gk), Amin Bukhari (gk), Taher Wadi, Khalid Al-Asiri, Chancel Mbemba, Mohammad Thiban, Sultan Al-Farhan, Clayton Diandy, Meshari Al-Nemer. The club posted the lineup on social media with the Arabic caption: طيـورٍ مواكرهـا بـ راس العـدامـة🦅تشكيلتنا لـ لقاء #الدرعية_النصر 📄#أغلى_الكؤوس pic.twitter.com/wOFWDLFmQd
Starting XI for Al Nassr: Bento; Nawaf Boushal, Mohamed Simakan, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Salem Al-Najdi; Samú Costa, Ângelo Gabriel; Kingsley Coman, João Félix, Sadio Mané; Abdullah Al-Hamdan. Bench: Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi (gk), Iñigo Martínez, Nader Al-Sharari, Awad Aman, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Ali Al-Hassan, Hayder Abdulkareem, Sami Al-Najei, Abdulmalik Al-Jaber, Ayman Yahya, Rakan Al-Ghamdi, Saad Haqawi. Al Nassr shared their selections with the message: 📋 Eleven Knights. One mission. Advance 💛 pic.twitter.com/2LDalS6pTR
The match will be played on Tuesday, August 18, 2026. In India, the fixture will kick off at 11:30 PM IST. The venue for the game is Al‑Awwal Park in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Sushruta has spent over two years covering football, with a particular focus on Indian and international competitions. Alongside football, he has reported on a variety of sports, bringing curiosity and perspective to every story. When he’s not following the action, he can usually be found binge-watching movies or getting lost in a good book.
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