The 1980s Golden Generation

Lore & Background

In the 1980s, the club hired Saudi players such as Saleh Al-Nu'eimeh, Yousuf Al-Thunayan, and Sami Al-Jaber. Al-Hilal won four league titles and four King's Cup titles in ten years, including two season doubles. The club were runners-up in the Asian Club Championship twice: in 1986 they finished second after the round-robin final round, and in 1987 they reached the final but Yomiuri were crowned champion automatically as Al-Hilal were unable to field a team for the final due to nine starting players being chosen for the Saudi team's preparation camp that clashed with the date fixed for the first leg.

Reader's Guide

Al-Hilal's most successful period in continental competitions came between 1991 and 2002, winning four AFC Champions League titles (1991, 2000, 2019, 2021), two Asian Cup Winners' Cups (1997, 2002), and two Asian Super Cups (1997, 2000). Domestically, they hold records for most league titles (21), Crown Prince Cup titles (13), and other cups.

Did You Know?

• Al-Hilal was awarded Greatest Asian Club of the 20th Century by the IFFHS in September 2009.
• The club's name 'Al-Hilal' is Arabic for 'the crescent moon'.
• Al-Hilal were runners-up in the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup, the first Asian club from outside the host nation to reach the final.