Imports in Saudi Arabia’s Women’s Premier League for 2024-25
Saudi Arabia’s 2024-25 season has 60 imports:
Brazil 8
Jordan 5
Algeria 4
France 4
Ivory Coast 4
DR Congo 3
Egypt 3
Morocco 3
Bosnia & Herzegovina 2
Cameroon 2
Ghana 2
Nigeria 2
Spain 2
Tunisia 2
Bahrain 1
England 1
Iceland 1
Iraq 1
Lebanon 1
North Macedonia 1
Palestine 1
Panama 1
Paraguay 1
Pakistan 1
Philippines 1
Slovenia 1
Tanzania 1
U.S.A. 1
On June 12 2024, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation updated their rules regarding foreign players and Saudi-born (Al-Mawalled) players in their women’s leagues competitions for the 2024–2025 season. The number of non-Saudi players that can be rostered has been reduced from seven to six (with an extra one meeting specific criteria) but the on-field limit has been increased from four to five. Teams can also register two Saudi-born (Al-Mawalled) players born in 2004 or later, with one allowed to play on the field at any one time.
Al-Ahli
Al-Ahli, who finished in second place in 2023-24 but ten points behind Champions Al-Nassr, has imports this season from Jordan (2), Morocco (2), DR Congo (1), Egypt (1) and Ghana (1).
Among the returnees to the side are:
Forward Naomie Kabakaba (26) is a full international from DR Congo, who previously played at Galatasaray in Turkey, scoring 10 goals in 11 games. Thus far this season, Kabakaba is third in the league in scoring with 14 goals in 10 games, including five braces and one hat-trick, after scoring nine goals in five matches last season.
Forward Ibtissam Jraidi (32) has 68 caps and 26 goals for Morocco, including a goal in the 2023 WWC Finals in Australia/New Zealand. She scored 17 goals in 13 games in 2023-24 with Al-Ahli to win the Golden Boot. This season to date, she has 15 goals in 10 matches and is second in the Golden Boot race. She won three league titles at home with FAR and is an unqualified success in Saudi Arabia’s league.
Midfielder Farida Hanafi (19) of Egypt is in her second season with the club and has scored one goal each season.
Al Ahli’s new import for this season is:
Nahia Nakkach (29), who was born and raised in France and plays internationally for Morocco, for whom she has over 50 full caps. She played the past three seasons with Servette in Switzerland, after playing with clubs in France.
Al-Amal
Al-Amal—one of three teams promoted from the Saudi Women’s First Division League (second tier) by finishing third last season—has seven imports this season: Algeria (3), Ecuador (1), Ivory Coast (1), Argentina (1) and Philippines (1).
New imports to the side this season include:
Forward Milagros Menendez (27) is a full international for Argentina, including at the 2019 WWC and has played at home and in Spain. She played 10 games (with 1 goal) for Santos of Brazil in the first half of the year.
Defender Dominique Randle (30) was born and raised in the U.S. but plays internationally for the Philippines, scoring one goal in 27 appearances. She played with the Philippines in their Women’s World Cup Finals debut in 2023 in Australia/New Zealand, with the side playing in the latter nation. She played collegiately at the University of Southern California, tried out with Angel City in 2022 before going to Iceland in 2023.
Goalkeeper Irene Tobar (35) is an Ecuadorian international who was with the side in their only WWC Finals appearance in 2015 in Canada. She finished runner-up in 2022-23 with Dragonas Independiente Del Valle (IDV) in the Ecuadorian league and left Dragonas on a free transfer in January of 2025.
Al-Hilal
Al Hilal, who finished in fifth place in the eight team league in 2023-24, has one import each from nine countries: Brazil, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Panama and Paraguay.
Returnees to Al-Hilal this season include:
Forward Shokhan Salihi (24), an Iraqi international in futsal, is back after scoring 11 goals in 14 games last season after leading the league in 2022-23 with 43 goals in 14 regular season matches. This season thus far, she has two goals in ten matches. Al Hilal extended her contract after her first season with the club through the 2025-26 season. She was called up to the senior 11-a-side team for Iraq in early 2024.
Midfielder Maryam Benkirane (31) was born in Saudi Arabia but is a Moroccan national. She is in her third season with the club.
New imports this year are:
Goalkeeper Aline Vallares Reis, better known as ‘Aline’, is a full Brazilian international (15 caps), who played in the Olympic Games Finals in 2016 and 2020 as well as at the 2019 WWC Finals. She played in the States at the University of Central Florida and professionally at home, in Finland, Hungary and Spain. She was a goalkeepers coach at UCLA and went with their head coach Amanda Cromwell to join the Orlando Pride of the NWSL for the 2022 season—prompting Aline to retire as a player. Cromwell, Aline and one other coach were suspended by the league in June during their first season for player abuse. The NWSL investigation revealed that Aline did not fully cooperate with their investigation, a breach of league rules, and allegedly pressured Pride players to give favorable statements about the coaches. Aline could return to the league someday if she assumed responsibility and underwent training. With no guarantee of a job and, calling her experience with the league “very disappointing” on social media, she restarted her career as a player with Tenerife of Spain, playing in over 130 games in two stints.
Midfielder Aldrith Quintero (23) is a full international with Panama and has played in Spain and France before moving to Al-Hilal for the 2024-25 season. Last season she played in 14 games with Fleury in France’s Premiere Ligue.
Midfielder Joury Hashem (17) was born in Saudi Arabia but is a Jordanian national.
Forward Jessica Martinez (25) is a Paraguayan international who moved from Levante in Spain, where she scored 8 goals in 25 games last season, to join Al-Hilal. She moved to Spain from Santos of Brazil for the 2020 season, first with CD Tacon/Real Madrid and then played a season at Sevilla before moving to Levante. For Paraguay she has played in two FIFA U-17 Finals (2014 and 2016) and two FIFA U-20 Finals (2014 and 2018). She has eight goals in ten matches in her first season in Saudi Arabia and is seventh in the league to date in scoring.
Al-Ittihad
Last season Al-Ittihad finished in sixth place and has imports this season from six nations (one each): Brazil, England, Jordan, Lebanon, Nigeria and Slovenia.
Returnees to the club include:
English international defender Leighanne Robe (31), who has played 100 games at Liverpool and also spent time with Millwall and Watford and as a youth at Arsenal.
Another returning import defender with WSL experience is English-born and raised defender Ashleigh Plumptre (26), a star for Nigeria at the 2023 WWC Finals (see more in The Week in Women's Football: Are you ready for this? Mega-bucks Saudi Pro League planned for 2025 - Tribal Football).
Lili Iskander (21) is a Lebanese international who won a league title at home with SAS in 2019-20, scoring 20 goals. She moved to HB Koge for the 2021-22 season and won another league title. She then played with Etihad of Jordan and won the 2022-23 title as she led the league in goals with 14 goals in 12 games. She scored four goals in 13 games last season in the Saudi league and has again scored four times in 10 games in 2024-25 for Al-Ittihad.
New imports for Al Ittihad in 2024-25 include:
Goalkeeper Zala Mersnik (23) of Slovenia has been with the national team since 2017 and played at home with Pomurje ZNK Mura, with Turbine Potsdam of Germany and the last two seasons at Sporting de Huelva of Spain
Midfielder Leticia Nunes (23) of Brazil won a Serie A2 title last year with Bahia in Northeastern Brazil. She previously scored 16 goals in 21 games with America of Belo Horizonte in the State of Minas Gerais. She has been a fantastic new addition to the league, scoring 12 goals in 10 matches for fourth place in the 2024-25 Golden Boot table.
New head coach Lindsay Camilla (42) of Brazil led Bahia in Brazil to the Serie A2 title. She was an assistant coach for Brazil’U-17 WNT and has coached youth teams in France, the U.S. and UAE. During her playing career, she played in Brazil, France, Portugal and Spain. She replaced American head coach Kelly Lindsey, who is now a COO and Director of Operations for Lewes FC in England, where she had coached before as well as with Afghanistan’s and Morocco’s WNTs.
Note: Moroccan international midfielder Salma Amani left Al-Ittihad, after scoring four goals in eight games during the 2023-24 season, and is now with Brooklyn FC in the new USL Super League in the U.S. She was capped by France at the U-17 level and then by Morocco at the senior level in 2012. She played for a number of clubs in France, including over 100 games for Guingamp. She was with Morocco’s historic inaugural WWC side in 2023 in Australia/New Zealand and has over 35 caps for Morocco’s senior team.
Al-Nassr—Champions
The two time reigning Champions Al-Nassr have two imports from Brazil and one each from Algeria, DRC Congo, France, Palestine and Tanzania.
Returnees this season include:
Defender Etaf Al-Sawi (22) of Palestine, who won a league title with Al-Nassr last season after joining the club from Al-Muharraq in Bahrain. She also played futsal in Bahrain and is a full Palestinian international and also was FIFA qualified to play for Jordan. She played for Palestine in two friendly ties against Saudi Arabia in May of 2024 in Riyadh (0-0) and (1-1).
Midfielder Lina Boussaha (25) was a youth international for France, where she grew up, before joining Algeria at the senior level in 2023. She is in her second season with Al Nassr and scored 12 goals in 14 matches in 2023-24. She had increased her production this season with 11 goals from eight matches for fifth in the Golden Boot race. At the club level, she has played with Paris St. Germain, Lille (on loan) and Le Havre.
Forward Clara Luvanga (19) of Tanzania has played with the U-17, U-20 and senior sides and is in her second season with the two-time reigning Saudi Premier League Champions. She scored 11 goals in 14 games last season and has five goals in nine games thus far in 2024-25.
New imports this season include:
Midfielder Nesrine Bahlouli (21) is a French youth international and joined Al-Nassr for the 2024-25 after AC Milan mutually terminated her contract—she spent last season on loan to Bordeaux and was a youth and senior player for Olympique Lyon.
Forward Ruth Kipoyi (27) is a full international for DR Congo and has played since the 2021-22 season in Turkey, with ALG Spor ad Galatasaray, joining Al-Nassr for the 2024-25 season, where she has scored two goals in seven games thus far this season.
Head coach Sandro Mendes (47) of Cape Verde was an international player for Portugal at youth levels and Cape Verde at the senior level. He has coached a number of sides in Portugal and has a UEFA Pro License.
Al-Qadsiah
Al-Qadsiah, which last season finished fourth and 14 points behind the Champions Al-Nassr, has one import each from Brazil, Cameroon, France, Iceland, Ivory Coast and the U.S.
Returnees to the club include:
Forward Ajara Nchout Njoya (31) is a Cameroon international and played for clubs in Russia, the NWSL, Sweden, Norway, Spain and Italy. She scored 10 goals in 39 matches over three years with Inter Milan. She played in two WWC Finals for Cameroon in 2015 and 2019, scoring 15 goals in 43 matches in total for their WNT. After scoring two goals in six games at the end of last season, she is leading the league with 18 goals from 10 matches in 2024-25.
Goalkeeper Lindsey Harris (30) played at the University of North Carolina, in the NWSL and in Iceland, Norway and Portugal before moving to Saudi Arabia for last season (she was joint top of the league in shutouts in 2023-24 with eight—tied with Saudi Arabian international Sara Khalid (28) of Al-Nassr). Last year she played in 14 games and has played in nine to date this season, with two clean sheets.
Defender Rayanne Machado (30) is from Brazil and earned two full caps and played with Flamengo and Braga of Portugal since 2016.
Forward Jessica Aby (26) from the Ivory Coast, who played in Cyprus and Spain and was on their 2015 WWC team in Canada. She is a full international for Ivory Coast and has one goal in five games this season.
New imports this season include:
Midfielder Lea Garrec has played for France at the senior level and multiple junior levels, including winning the 2010 UEFA U-19 Championship. She was with the 2023 WWC team and an alternate at the 2024 Olympic Games Finals in France. She played one season in England with Brighton & Hove Albion and in France with multiple clubs including PSG, Guingamp and Fleury.
Midfielder Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir of Iceland has over 140 national team caps and is one of the premier new imports from Europe for this season. She played the past two seasons with Juventus in Italy and previously with Olympique Lyonnais in France, VFL Wolfsburg in Germany and Rosengard in Sweden. She has won four Damallsvenskan titles in Sweden, four Frauen-Bundesliga championships in Germany and one Division 1 Feminine title in France, as well as two UEFA Women’s Champions League titles at Lyon.
Al-Shabab
Al-Shabab finished in third place last season and 12 points out of first place. Their imports in 2024-25 hail from Spain (2), France (1), Jordan (1), Nigeria (1) and North Macedonia (1).
Returnees to Al-Shabab this season include:
Forward Chinonyerem Macleans (25), who has played two full internationals with Nigeria, and on the club side has played at home with Bayelsa Queens, in Belarus, Poland and Russia—scoring 14 goals in 33 matches with Lokomotiv Moscow across three seasons from 2022-24. She joined Al-Shabab in October and has six goals in nine matches. She was selected to the 2024 Olympic Games Final roster for Nigeria.
Defender Lana Feras (26) has played over 15 senior nation team matches for Jordan and is in her second season with Al-Shabab, scoring once in nine games from the back line.
New imports this season are:
Midfielder Kheira Hamroui (34) of France; (see more about Hamroui’s background and time in Mexico in our column from last month in: The Week in Women's Football: Liga MX season review - top 7 in focus - TribalFootball.com). The French international has scored five goals in eight matches in 2024-25 with Al-Shabab to date.
Forward Maria Diaz Cirauqui (29) of Spain; she is a Basque Region international and played for Athletic Bilbao at home and in France with FC Fleury 91 and Dijon. She has one goal in eight games thus far this season with Al-Shabab.
Another new import from Spain is defender Patricia Padilla (28), who moved from Albacete, where she has played in over 150 matches for the club in three different stints.
Forward Natasa Andonova (31) has scored 25 caps in 57 appearances for North Macedonia’s WNT. She moved after five seasons at Levante in Spain’s Liga F and has also played with Barcelona of Spain, PSG in France, Rosengard of Sweden and Turbine Potsdam in Germany. She has scored five goals in ten matches thus far with Al-Shabab this season.
Al-Taraji
Al-Taraji, which finished second in the second tier Saudi Arabia First Division League in 2023-24 and was promoted to the expanded top flight in 2024-25, has imports from Tunisia (2), Bahrain (1), Brazil (1) and DR Congo (1).
Returning imports include:
Forward Hajar Al-Ansari (32) is an international for Bharain in futsal and joined Al-Taraji last season when they were in the Saudi Women’s First Division League, scoring 17 goals in 12 matches. This season in the top flight, she has one goal in eight games. A veteran of Saudi Arabian football, she won a title in the league’s first season with Al-Mamlaka (now Al-Nassr) at the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Regional Championship in 2021-22. She then moved to Al Mutahed (now Al-Qadsiah) for the first season of the second tier Saudi Women’s First Division League; after winning promotion there, she then moved to Al Taraji. She has played football in the UAE and is a full international for Bahrain in Volleyball.
Defender Dhikra Mahfoudh (32) is a full international for Tunisia who is in her second season for Al-Taraji in the Saudi Arabian top league.
Defender Wafe Messaoudof (30) is a Tunisian international who played with three sides in Turkey: Fatih Vatan Spor and Kirecburnu Spor in the Super League and Bagcilar Evren Spor in the Turkish First League (division 2) since 2021-22 and is in her second season with Al-Taraji, scoring 36 goals to lead the second division in scoring last year and help Al-Taraji to be promoted to the top tier.
Goalkeeper Mayara Gonclaves (26) of Brazil is in her third season in Saudi Arabia, joining Al Hilal for the 2022-23 season from Al Ain of UAE. For the 2023-24 season she dropped down to the second tier to play with Al Taraji and now is back in the top tier. Thus far this season she has played in nine games.
New imports this season include:
Forward Grace Mfwamba (26) is a full international for DR Congo; she has played in Turkey with ALG Spor and Trabsonspor, scoring 21 goals in 49 matches in two seasons with the latter side. She has scored half of Al-Taraji’s six goals with three in nine matches, for the team at the bottom of the table with no points, having allowed 61 goals in 2024-25.
Al-Ula
Al-Ula would have been promoted for 2024-25 even if the Premier League had stayed with eight teams as they finished top of the table in the First Division, replacing 2023-24 Premier League last place side Al-Riyadh, who achieved one point in 14 games, scoring only 8 goals and allowing 79, for a -71 goal difference. For 2024-25 two of their players come from Bosnia and Herzegovina, with another dual from Brazil, and one each from Egypt, France, Ivory Coast and Yemen.
Imports returning to the side include:
Midfielder Selma Kapetanovic (28) was born in Germany and is a full international for Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has played for clubs at home and in Belarus, Croatia, Hungary and is in her second season with Al-Ula, winning promotion with the club last season. She was the top scorer on the team and was named as the Best Player in the First Division last season.
Midfielder Fatjesa Gegollaj (23) from Croatia joined the side from Split at home, where she won two league titles. She then played a year in Sion and joined Al-Ula last season. She was born in Kosovo and has played for Croatia at multiple junior levels and with the senior side.
New imports for this season include:
Al-Ula brought in another high profile signing to the league in French international goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi (38). She grew up in France but could have played for Algeria through FIFA’s parentage rule. Bouhaddi has 149 full caps for France and totaled 199 appearances with one goal at Lyon from 2009-2022 (winning 11 league titles, eight UEFA WCL titles and the International Federation of Football and Statistics (IFFHS) World’s Best Women’s Goalkeeper award for three consecutive seasons in 2016, 2017 and 2018. She played with the Seattle Reign, PSG and joined Arsenal early in 2024 but moved to Al-Ula and has played in five games thus far in 2024-25.
Defender Melisa Hasanbegovic (29) has played over 25 national team matches for Bosnia & Herzegovina and for clubs at home, in Czech Republic, Hungary, Norway, Portugal and Sweden.
Forward Ange N’Guessan (34) of the Ivory Coast has played in Lithuania, Cyrus and Spain, including during the 2016-17 season with Barcelona (3 goals in 20 matches) and then with Tenerife. With the national team she has five goals in 22 matches.
Midfielder Hadeel Jehran (20) of Yemen has played in five games thus far this season.
Eastern Flames
Eastern Flames or Shua’lat Al-Sharqia, finished last season in seventh place. This season, they have one import each from Brazil, Cape Verde Islands, Pakistan, South Africa, Syria and Tunisia.
Returnees this season include:
Forward Nor Mustafa (23) is from Sweden but could have played for Iraq as her family is from Kurdistan. She has played at home in Sweden for Eskilstuna and then with West Ham United in the WSL, Le Havre in France and Hibernian in Scotland; she was a Swedish youth international with their U-17 side. She had five goals in seven matches last season for Al-Ittihad and one goal in three matches with Eastern Flames this season. She joined Syria’s WNT in 2024 and has played in five matches to date, scoring three goals, with two coming at the 2024 West Asian Football Federation Championship in February of last year in Saudi Arabia, where Syria did not make the semifinals, losing to runner-up Nepal (4-1), Lebanon (1-0) but defeating Iraq (3-0) in group play.
Midfielder Maria Khan (34), who is American-born and Pakistan’s WNT captain, has lived and worked in the United Arab Emirates since 2015. We profiled her last year in our column on the Saudia Arabia Women’s Premier League: The Week in Women's Football: Exploring the Saudi Premier League ambitions and hearing from Maria Khan - Tribal Football.
Two imports left Eastern Flames after the 2023-24 season:
Forward Enekia Lunyamila (22) of Tanzania has been doing well this season in Mexico; she scored seven goals in 14 games for Eastern Flames in Saudi Arabia in 2023-24—a stellar performance for the overmatched side which totaled four points in 14 matches and scored only 12 goals all season as they finished seventh of eight teams in the league. She continued her strong goalscoring form in Mazatlan with six goals in 14 games during the 2024-25 Apertura (see our column from last week: The Week in Women's Football: Liga MX Review P2; Campos joins Tottenham - TribalFootball.com). She previously played for Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih in Ukraine, Assotiation Union Sportive Feminine Assa Zag of Morocco and Ruvuma Queens at home. She had 20 goals in 28 internationals for Tanzania’s WNT.Defender Erica Cunningham (31) of the U.S., who we interviewed last season, has moved onto Iceland to join Tindatoll. She qualified through FIFA rules to play for the U.S., the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Mexico and Nicaragua. After talking with TribalFootball.com about trying to reach out to the two Irish WNT’s last year, she was capped for the first time by Nicaragua in July in a 0-0 draw with Panama at home in a friendly (see more in: The Week in Women's Football: Exploring the Saudi Premier League ambitions and hearing from Maria Khan - Tribal Football).
New imports for Eastern Flames this season include:
Forward Jolina Amani (25) grew up in the Netherlands and played with their U-19 team before joining Cape Verde in 2023 at the senior level. She could also have played for DR Congo through parentage. She played at home with Excelsior and Den Haag and in Portugal with Benfica and Braga. She joined Eastern Flames for the 2024-25 season and has made 11 appearances, with 10 starts.
Midfielder Noxolo Cesane (24) has 40 caps for South Africa and has played in France with Stade de Reims in France and then with Tigres UANL and Mazatlan in Mexico.
Goalkeeper Keissyane Lima dos Santos (29), known as ‘Keikei,’ has played at home with clubs such as Vasco da Gama, Flamengo, Gremio, Palmeiras and Real Brasilia, winning league titles in 2022 and 2023 with Real Brasilia and Flamengo in 2016.
Defender Samia Aouni (32) is a Tunisian international who played the last two seasons with Al Nassr in Saudia Arabia and joined Eastern Flames for the 2024-25 campaign. She has also played in Jordan with Amman.
Golden Boot Race
The top 12 scorers in the league after 10 matches for the 2024-25 season are all imports except for one Saudi national:
1 Ajara Nchout of Cameroon and Al-Qadsiah (18)
2 Ibtissam Jraidi of Morocco and Al-Ahli (15)
3 Naomie Kabakaba of DR Congo and Al-Ahli (14)
4 Leticia Nunes of Brazil and Al-Ittihad (12)
5 Lina Boussaha of Algeria and Al-Nassr (11)
6 Duda Francelino of Brazil and Al-Nassr (10)
7 Jessica Martinez of Paraguay and Al-Hilal (8)
8t Jaine Lemke of Brazil and Al-Ula (7)
8t Mavis Owusu of Ghana and Al-Hilal (7)
10t Al Bandari Mobarak of Saudi Arabia and Al-Shabab (6)
10t Ruth Kipoyi of DR Congo and Al-Nassr (6)
10t Chinonyerem Macleans of Nigeria and Al-Shabab (6)
The loan Saudi Arabian international among the top 12 scorers is Al Bandari Mobarak (23) of Al Shabab. She is in her second season with the club and scored two goals last season. She has 10 goals in 17 matches with the Saudi Arabian WNT.
Furthermore, Saudi nationals represent only one of the top 21 league goal scorers in 2024-25—for those with four or more goals—while they represent eight out of 37 players who have scored at least one goal. Last season, all of the league’s top 21 leading scorers were imports from the Americas, Europe, Africa and elsewhere in Asia, so this year we have seen a slight improvement (see: The Week in Women's Football: Imports talk up Saudi Pro League; Canada hopes for Project 8 - Tribal Football). Beyond the Saudi Arabian Football Federation’s goal to be one of the top women’s leagues in the world, bringing in talent from other countries has primarily been in attacking midfield and forward roles. Though Saudi nationals are not figuring in many of the goals, they are learning from these top players and it will benefit the National Team, which has only been active for a few years.
Patience with this effort will likely see more Saudi forwards among the top league scorers in future years, but the knock-on effect for the WNT could be realized in the 2031 WWC Qualifiers and perhaps during the 2027 Qualifiers, though the gap is still massive versus the AFC powers such as Japan, Korea Republic and Australia.
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on X: @TimGrainey