Al Ettifaq v Al Nassr: Lineups Confirmed for Matchday 3 as Cristiano Ronaldo Starts

Al Ettifaq and Al Nassr confirmed their starting lineups for the Matchday 3 fixture of the Saudi Pro League 2026-27 season at Al Ettifaq Club Stadium in Dammam on August 25, 2026, with Cristiano Ronaldo named in Al Nassr’s starting XI.

Al Ettifaq enter the match unbeaten after a 4-2 victory over Al Riyadh in their opener followed by a 1-0 win against Al Fateh, maintaining a 100% record under Arthur Papas. Defending champions Al Nassr are also perfect so far, having beaten Al Fateh 3-0 and Al Riyadh 4-0 in their first two league games. Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Al Nassr’s lineup in the last match, and the Portuguese star will hope to start tonight.

Al Ettifaq’s starting XI was named as: Turki Baljawsh; Madallah Alolayan, Abdullah Al-Khateeb (c), Jack Hendry, Radhi Al-Otaibi; Ondrej Duda, Yasir Al-Shammari, Álvaro Medrán; Matija Gluščević, Moussa Dembélé, Rayane Messi. The substitutes listed are Abdulbasit Hawsawi (gk), Abdullah Madu, Meshal Sibyani, Meshal Al-Alaeli, Faris Al-Ghamdi, Ziyad Al-Ghamdi, Khalid Al-Ghannam, Bersant Celina and Jordan Larsson. The club announced its XI on social media ahead of the fixture.

Al Nassr’s starting lineup reads: Bento; Nawaf Boushal, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Iñigo Martínez, Salem Al-Najdi; Samú Costa, Ângelo Gabriel; Kingsley Coman, João Félix, Sadio Mané; Cristiano Ronaldo (c). Their bench includes Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi (gk), Nader Al-Sharari, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Ali Al-Hassan, Abdulmalik Al-Jaber, Sami Al-Najei, Saad Haqawi, Ayman Yahya and Abdullah Al-Hamdan. The club published its XI with the caption "Our XI for tonight’s league mission."

For viewers in India, the match is scheduled to kick off at 11:30 PM IST; the fixture will be played at Al Ettifaq Club Stadium in Dammam. Khel Now advised readers to follow its coverage on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, to download the Khel Now Android App or iOS App, and to join its communities on WhatsApp and Telegram for further updates.

The Matchday 3 fixture is set for August 25, 2026, at Al Ettifaq Club Stadium in Dammam, with the teams meeting as part of the 2026-27 Saudi Pro League schedule and the kick-off time in India listed as 11:30 PM IST.