From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Jun 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market14 Jun 2027
The fee is $170.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Al-Batin drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Al-Hazem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Waleed Al-Shanqeeti commits to Al-Hazem for another 2 years.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Al-Hazem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bonheur Mugisha is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market7 Jun 2027
Al-Nahda are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Al-Hazem will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 May 2027
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom31 May 2027
Wages eat 89% of everything Al-Hazem earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad31 May 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match24 May 2027
Al-Hazem up to position 2
78 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad24 May 2027
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Al-Hazem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bonheur Mugisha is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom17 May 2027
Mathematically certain, and nobody in this town is going to bed early. Whatever else happened this season, it finishes a division above where it started.
Squad17 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Hazem may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad17 May 2027
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Al-Hazem have had the benefit of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Hazem may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad10 May 2027
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Al-Hazem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elias Mokwana is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market10 May 2027
He is 14, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdulrahman Al-Dakheel, and the manager let it.
Market10 May 2027
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Al-Hazem could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Bonheur Mugisha falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom3 May 2027
$1.6M on the table at Al-Hazem
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Apr 2027
Al-Hazem refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 78 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Apr 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Al-Hazem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Apr 2027
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Bonheur Mugisha falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdulaziz Al-Harbi and Al-Hazem agree another 4 years.
Market12 Apr 2027
He is 16, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market12 Apr 2027
The clock does Amadou Bamba’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Al-Hazem could ask drops and the wages Amadou Bamba can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Apr 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Hazem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Al-Hazem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bonheur Mugisha is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match29 Mar 2027
Al-Hazem up to position 2
78 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market22 Mar 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Ahmed Al-Shehri: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Hazem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Al-Hazem training over how hard people work
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Squad
The manager makes an example of Sultan Tanker
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Boardroom
The Al-Hazem board put their names to it
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Mar 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mohammed Al-Yami will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Hazem the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom15 Mar 2027
Al-Saudi Al-Watani will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Anton Polorotov has pre-agreed a move to Al-Hazem, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Bonheur Mugisha falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Miguel Carvalho has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Al-Hazem will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match6 Mar 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against Al-Batin, and it could have been more.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.37, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A season average of 7.44 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sofiane Bendebka commits to Al-Hazem for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces8 Mar 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Miguel Carvalho has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes of Elias Mokwana at his very best
Marked 8.52. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al-Hazem.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Al-Hazem release $1.6M for the manager
The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.
Market8 Mar 2027
He is 14, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match1 Mar 2027
Al-Hazem refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 75 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Match27 Feb 2027
The run at home goes on for Al-Hazem
15 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A season average of 7.41 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Aboubacar Bah falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Elton Acolatse was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.19. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad1 Mar 2027
The team sheet said everything about Aboubacar Bah
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Aboubacar Bah.
Match27 Feb 2027
It needed Elton Acolatse to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Damac, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market22 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Al-Hazem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Amir Sayoud, 36, rolls back the years — 8.26
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.26 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Amir Sayoud
14 goals and a season average of 7.27 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aboubacar Bah and Al-Hazem agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Arthur Nascimento has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Al-Hazem have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Match20 Feb 2027
A 2‑1 win over Al-Njoom, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Al-Hazem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bonheur Mugisha is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad15 Feb 2027
Omar Al-Somah is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.54 with 31 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match13 Feb 2027
Al-Riyadh will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Hazem were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.89 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match13 Feb 2027
14 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Age has not caught Amir Sayoud yet — 8.16
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.16 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market15 Feb 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Hazem is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Elias Mokwana falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Miguel Carvalho has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Al-Hazem will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 Feb 2027
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Amadou Bamba reports back to Al-Hazem with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A season average of 7.38 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match6 Feb 2027
Al-Diriyah left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Al-Hazem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elias Mokwana is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Miguel Carvalho is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Al-Hazem will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market8 Feb 2027
Everyone has stopped pretending: Al-Njoom will make the call about Mohammed Al-Yami this week. Al-Hazem have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Al-Hazem release $1.6M for the manager
The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad1 Feb 2027
29 goals and a season average of 7.52. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Match1 Feb 2027
Al-Hazem up to position 1
68 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.37 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match30 Jan 2027
Nobody wants to play Al-Hazem right now
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Hazem may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match30 Jan 2027
Al-Hazem make home a hard place to visit
13 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Amir Sayoud, 36, rolls back the years — 7.99
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.99 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market1 Feb 2027
Ibrahim Zaied hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Hazem can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match23 Jan 2027
6‑0, and Amir Sayoud took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Al-Hazem tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.44, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.32, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.06 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match23 Jan 2027
Nobody wants to play Al-Hazem right now
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Market25 Jan 2027
Amadou Bamba hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Hazem can pretend not to have heard.
Match23 Jan 2027
The run at home goes on for Al-Hazem
12 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match23 Jan 2027
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Hazem and Al-Ta'ee in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market18 Jan 2027
Young Boys paid $12.7M and Al-Hazem took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The terraces18 Jan 2027
Supporters turn on the $12.7M sale of Afimico Pululu
He is going to Young Boys, the club has $12.7M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Hazem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match16 Jan 2027
Nobody wants to play Al-Hazem right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Market18 Jan 2027
Amadou Bamba has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Hazem they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom18 Jan 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Amadou Bamba has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match16 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Afimico Pululu. 1‑0 against Al-Fayha, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad18 Jan 2027
8 goals and a season average of 7.33. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad11 Jan 2027
28 goals and a season average of 7.55. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Match9 Jan 2027
Al-Saudi Al-Watani will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Hazem were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.28 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Omar Al-Somah, 37, rolls back the years — 8.03
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.03 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market11 Jan 2027
Al-Hazem say no — this time
The offer from Al-Nahda for Amadou Bamba was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match9 Jan 2027
Al-Hazem make home a hard place to visit
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Match9 Jan 2027
Nobody wants to play Al-Hazem right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad4 Jan 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Omar Al-Somah
27 goals and a season average of 7.54 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match4 Jan 2027
Al-Hazem up to position 1
56 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Match2 Jan 2027
4‑0, and Afimico Pululu took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Al-Hazem tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A brace, and Afimico Pululu takes the afternoon — 8.19
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Afimico Pululu provided it, and the 8.19 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Age has not caught Omar Al-Somah yet — 8.69
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.69 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad4 Jan 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Al-Hazem will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Market4 Jan 2027
Sultan Tanker hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Hazem can pretend not to have heard.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match26 Dec 2026
6‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad28 Dec 2026
26 goals and a season average of 7.50. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The match ball belongs to Afimico Pululu, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A brace, and Elton Acolatse takes the afternoon — 8.39
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Elton Acolatse provided it, and the 8.39 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Age has not caught Omar Al-Somah yet — 7.98
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.98 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Dec 2026
Al-Hazem make home a hard place to visit
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Match26 Dec 2026
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Hazem and Al-Jeel in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 572% of everything Al-Hazem earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market21 Dec 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Al-Hazem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Dec 2026
14 goals and a season average of 7.31. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Match19 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Aboubacar Bah falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match12 Dec 2026
Al-Shoulla will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Hazem were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Omar Al-Somah
25 goals and a season average of 7.51 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
A brace, and Miguel Carvalho takes the afternoon — 8.11
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Miguel Carvalho provided it, and the 8.11 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match12 Dec 2026
Nobody wants to play Al-Hazem right now
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
250 goals for this club, and somewhere in the stand there is a person who can still tell you where they were for most of them.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Omar Al-Somah, 37, rolls back the years — 7.89
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 2026
At 21, Miguel Carvalho is already the best thing here
An average of 7.00 in a first team he is several years too young for. Al-Hazem have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Match12 Dec 2026
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match5 Dec 2026
8‑1, and Omar Al-Somah took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Al-Hazem tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad7 Dec 2026
4 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match7 Dec 2026
Al-Hazem up to position 1
47 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Omar Al-Somah is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.50 with 24 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Market7 Dec 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Omar Al-Somah, 37, rolls back the years — 10.00
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.07 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match5 Dec 2026
Al-Hazem make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Hazem have 4 straight wins of it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Nov 2026
3‑0, and Elton Acolatse took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Al-Hazem tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
A brace, and Elton Acolatse takes the afternoon — 8.33
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Elton Acolatse provided it, and the 8.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Omar Al-Somah
20 goals and a season average of 7.40 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Omar Al-Somah, 37, rolls back the years — 8.33
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.33 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match28 Nov 2026
Al-Hazem cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
589% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Hazem
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Ahmed Al-Nakhli was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.27. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Nov 2026
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Market23 Nov 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Al-Hazem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Nov 2026
19 goals and a season average of 7.36. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Age has not caught Omar Al-Somah yet — 7.83
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.83 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A hand in 2 of them from Afimico Pululu — 7.97
Marked 7.97. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
Match21 Nov 2026
The run at home goes on for Al-Hazem
8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Bonheur Mugisha falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.21, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match11 Nov 2026
Al-Hazem bow out of the cup
Al-Qadisiyah go through and Al-Hazem go home, 0‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces16 Nov 2026
A cup hiding at Al-Qadisiyah leaves Al-Hazem explaining themselves
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Amadou Bamba: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Hazem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Age has not caught Omar Al-Somah yet — 8.14
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.14 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad16 Nov 2026
18 goals and a season average of 7.35. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad16 Nov 2026
22 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match14 Nov 2026
A 1‑0 win over Damac, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match9 Nov 2026
Al-Hazem are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 35 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Match7 Nov 2026
Still nobody has beaten Al-Hazem
The unbeaten run reaches 14. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match7 Nov 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Al-Njoom, and it could have been more.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Miguel Carvalho, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.88
A mark of 7.88 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Age has not caught Omar Al-Somah yet — 8.11
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.11 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ibrahim Zaied: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Hazem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Omar Al-Somah
17 goals and a season average of 7.31 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Miguel Carvalho has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match31 Oct 2026
Al-Hazem throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Al-Riyadh the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Al-Hazem will enjoy reviewing.
Match31 Oct 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 13 matches without defeat is a foundation Al-Hazem did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Omar Al-Somah is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.28 with 16 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
589% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Hazem
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Bruno Varela
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Al-Hazem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bonheur Mugisha is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match31 Oct 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Al-Riyadh leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match24 Oct 2026
Still nobody has beaten Al-Hazem
The unbeaten run reaches 12. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market26 Oct 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Al-Hazem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A move Mohammad Mustafa would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Mohammad Mustafa is living that version at Al-Hazem, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Bonheur Mugisha falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match24 Oct 2026
Point won or two lost for Al-Hazem?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Al-Diriyah? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Market26 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Hazem know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match17 Oct 2026
Al-Hazem make it 11 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Hazem have 11 straight wins of it.
Match17 Oct 2026
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.07 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match17 Oct 2026
Al-Hazem are at home on the road
6 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Squad19 Oct 2026
51 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Bruno Varela in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Omar Al-Somah is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.28 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Al-Hazem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aboubacar Bah is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Afimico Pululu at his very best
Marked 8.06. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al-Hazem.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match10 Oct 2026
Al-Hazem make it 10 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Hazem have 10 straight wins of it.
Match12 Oct 2026
Al-Hazem up to position 1
27 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Age has not caught Omar Al-Somah yet — 8.11
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.11 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match10 Oct 2026
Another one collected away from home
5 on the bounce on the road for Al-Hazem. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match10 Oct 2026
Three points for Al-Hazem, 2‑0 the final word against Al-Ta'ee in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Bonheur Mugisha falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Afimico Pululu was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match3 Oct 2026
Al-Hazem make it 9 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Hazem have 9 straight wins of it.
Match3 Oct 2026
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Al-Hazem scored in the 92th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Miguel Carvalho, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.85
A mark of 7.85 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Bruno Varela falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 775% of everything Al-Hazem earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match3 Oct 2026
Al-Fayha made Al-Hazem work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Miguel Carvalho is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Al-Hazem will try very hard not to make too much of it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad28 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Elton Acolatse
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Hazem lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match26 Sep 2026
Al-Hazem make it 8 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Hazem have 8 straight wins of it.
Match26 Sep 2026
Al-Saudi Al-Watani will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Hazem were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Hazem will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A brace, and Amir Sayoud takes the afternoon — 8.15
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Amir Sayoud provided it, and the 8.15 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Bruno Varela was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match26 Sep 2026
Al-Hazem are at home on the road
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Match26 Sep 2026
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Al-Saudi Al-Watani tried to reorganise, Al-Hazem did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Elias Mokwana was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.34. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad21 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Elton Acolatse
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Hazem lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match19 Sep 2026
Al-Mojzel will want this one forgotten quickly: 7‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Hazem were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match19 Sep 2026
Nobody wants to play Al-Hazem right now
7 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Hazem will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad21 Sep 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Age has not caught Omar Al-Somah yet — 9.88
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.88 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A brace, and Amir Sayoud takes the afternoon — 8.03
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Amir Sayoud provided it, and the 8.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad14 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Elton Acolatse
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Hazem lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match9 Sep 2026
Al-Hazem march on in the cup
Al-Khaleej are out and Al-Hazem go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Hazem will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match12 Sep 2026
Nobody wants to play Al-Hazem right now
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A brace, and Afimico Pululu takes the afternoon — 8.13
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Afimico Pululu provided it, and the 8.13 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Miguel Carvalho, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.06
A mark of 8.06 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Omar Al-Somah, 37, rolls back the years — 7.88
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.88 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Sofiane Bendebka was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad7 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Elton Acolatse
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Hazem lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Hazem will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Age has not caught Omar Al-Somah yet — 7.80
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.80 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match5 Sep 2026
Al-Hazem make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Hazem have 4 straight wins of it.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match5 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over Al-Ettifaq, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Al-Hazem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aboubacar Bah is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match29 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Al-Shoulla, and it could have been more.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A brace, and Afimico Pululu takes the afternoon — 8.12
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Afimico Pululu provided it, and the 8.12 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Age has not caught Amir Sayoud yet — 7.81
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match29 Aug 2026
Al-Hazem make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Hazem have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Afimico Pululu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Elton Acolatse was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.28. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Sultan Tanker
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad24 Aug 2026
6 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match22 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 10‑1 against Ohod, and it could have been more.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Age has not caught Omar Al-Somah yet — 10.00
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 10.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Elton Acolatse takes the afternoon — 8.40
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Elton Acolatse provided it, and the 8.40 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Hazem can pretend not to have heard.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market24 Aug 2026
The name of Aboubacar Bah has come up in conversations Al-Hazem were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Aug 2026
Omar Al-Somah among the goals in a wild afternoon
11 goals in one match, Omar Al-Somah on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al-Hazem and Ohod.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Age has not caught Amir Sayoud yet — 7.91
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.91 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Afimico Pululu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match15 Aug 2026
A 3‑1 win over Al-Orobah, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Aboubacar Bah falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ahmed Al-Shehri and Al-Hazem agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
Al-Hazem say no — this time
The offer from Al-Fateh for Aboubacar Bah was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Afimico Pululu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bonheur Mugisha and Al-Hazem agree another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Loreintz Rosier falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Afimico Pululu and Al-Hazem agree another 4 years.
Market3 Aug 2026
Al-Jeel come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Hazem did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Bruno Varela falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Hassan Idris again, and this time the name on the line is Al-Jeel. Al-Hazem are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.