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Ferran Torres and “the Punished One” from Al-Nassr: The Stars Who Denied Roshn League Clubs a World Cup Milestone... and Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli Are the “Biggest Winners”!

World Cup winners who came close to the Roshn League..

Two years ago, the Saudi Roshn League was celebrating two of its stars. Spain had ended its long wait to be crowned champions of Europe at Euro 2024, and two players from the league were part of that triumph. This time, however, the story is very different as the Matadors lift the 2026 World Cup.

Al-Qadisiyah and Al-Nassr celebrated the historic achievement of Nacho Fernandez and Aymeric Laporte when Spain conquered Europe. Now the situation has changed. The Roshn League has many Spanish players, but none made De la Fuente's squad, a team that combined tactical control with defensive discipline and settled the final against Argentina with a single goal.

Had a few transfers that broke down in recent seasons actually gone through, Saudi clubs could have added the names of world champions to their squads. What can be said is that 49 Roshn League stars appeared at the 2026 World Cup, which is an achievement in itself. Perhaps that “final step” was the hurdle that prevented the deals which would have allowed us to say a player from a Saudi club had been crowned world champion.

This report looks at the Spain stars linked with Roshn League clubs who still ended up among the World Cup winners, along with the biggest benefits the Roshn clubs drew from their players' participation in the tournament.

World champions who came close to the Roshn League

Spain's World Cup-winning squad is full of names that attracted the attention of Roshn League clubs, or were linked with them, only for the move to fall through.

Begin with the most notable example of all. The Roshn League missed out on signing one of the world champions in Aymeric Laporte, who built a defensive wall alongside Pau Cubarsi and helped drive Spain to the title. This came only a season after he left Al-Nassr and returned to Athletic Bilbao. His spell with Cristiano Ronaldo's team-mates ended badly, with Italian coach Stefano Pioli sanctioning him, making him train alone and leaving him out of the final matches of the season. Laporte spoke about the atmosphere at Al-Nassr before his departure, describing it as “difficult” because of the constant changes in management and the coaching staff.

The other names linked with the Roshn League were as follows..

Marcos Llorente

The Atletico Madrid full-back drew strong interest during the historic summer transfer window of 2023. His name was linked with Al Ahli, and The Athletic even reported that the Saudi club had agreed all the financial terms of the deal, with only the medical still to be completed. The move eventually collapsed.

* Ferran Torres

The Barcelona striker went from “the outcast” to a national hero in Spain after scoring the winning goal against Argentina at the World Cup. That form did not go unnoticed in the Roshn League, and Al-Nassr are said to have been the club chasing him this past summer. But “Cadena SER” radio reported that he rejected a big-money offer from the Kingdom in order to stay at the Blaugrana fortress.

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Fabian Ruiz

The Paris Saint-Germain midfield star, a winner of both the Champions League and the World Cup, had attracted interest from Al-Nassr in the summer of 2024. French website Foot01 reported that the club were ready to listen to Saudi offers after a dip in his form. He stayed, and the rest is history.

Dani Olmo

If the deal had gone through, it would not have stopped Barcelona from recording their midfielder's achievement in the club's own history. This follows a report from “Sport” that the 27-year-old had drawn interest from Al-Qadsiah, who wanted to sign him in the current summer transfer window. He turned down the move to the Kingdom. He then went a step further, taunting the Saudi national team's players before the World Cup clash by saying Spain would try to score as many goals as possible.

Marc Cucurella

Real Madrid's new full-back, who won a World Cup while on Chelsea's books, was on Al-Nassr's radar last summer. That is according to Abdulaziz Al-Muraisel, who responded to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano after Romano denied any Al-Nassr bid to sign him from Chelsea. Al-Muraisel insists the Riyadh giants did make an offer. The man with the “long hair” simply chose to remain at Stamford Bridge.

Key Gains for Roshn League Clubs

Roshn League clubs failed to land a single player from the squad that was crowned 2026 World Cup champions. Even so, they still benefited, financially and on the field, throughout the tournament.

According to the French newspaper “L'Equipe”, FIFA's club benefits programme paid 4,300 euros per day to compensate each club for the participation of its player in the World Cup, covering the period from 1 June to 19 July 2026, within a total budget of 305.3 million euros.

Al-Hilal sent the most players of any Saudi club to the World Cup, with a total of 12, making them the biggest beneficiary of the tournament. Their full-back Theo Hernandez stayed with France all the way to the third-place match, despite losing the bronze medal.

Level with Al-Nassr in second place among the Kingdom's clubs, Al-Ahli fielded nine players at the World Cup. The club also celebrated striker Ivan Toney, who played his part in helping England make history to claim the bronze medal.

Beyond the money, Al-Qadsiah sent six players and watched their Mexican star Julian Quinones shine. He scored four goals and delivered a decisive assist across five matches.

A final word.

Every transfer window, major names are linked with the Saudi Roshn League. The World Cup has perhaps become a new stage for intensifying competition among the world's clubs in the race to sign the stars who shine across the tournament. Yet despite a few Spanish names already in Saudi Arabia, including Nacho Fernández and Unai Hernández, the Kingdom's clubs have still not earned a place on the map of world champions. At the top of that list of beneficiaries stood Barcelona.