Salman Al-Faraj

Salman Mohammed Mohammed Al-Faraj (Arabic: سَلْمَان مُحَمَّد مُحَمَّد الْفَرَج; born 1 August 1989) is a Saudi Arabian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Saudi First Division League club Neom and captains the Saudi Arabia national team.

Salman Al-Faraj

Salman with Saudi Arabia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name	Salman Mohammed Mohammed Al-Faraj [1]
Date of birth	(1989-08-01) 1 August 1989 (age 36)
Place of birth	Medina, Saudi Arabia[2]
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[3]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Neom
Number	7
Youth career
2004–2008	Al Hilal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2024	Al Hilal	242	(17)
2024–	Neom	9	(0)
International career‡
2011–2012	Saudi Arabia U23	2	(1)
2021	Saudi Arabia Olympic (wild-card)	3	(0)
2012–2023	Saudi Arabia	73	(9)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:59, 28 January 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 19:33, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Al Hilal

Al-Faraj was a one-club man of Al Hilal.

Neom

On July 28, 2024, Al-Faraj completed his transfer to Neom, a team in the Saudi First Division League.^[4]

International career

Al-Faraj's first match with his national team was against Congo in an international friendly at Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium in al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia on 14 October 2012. The match ended in a 3–2 win.^[5] In December 2014, he was named in the Saudi squad for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia.^[6]

Salman's first goal with his national team was against Timor-Leste during the second round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers at King Abdullah Sports City, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 3 September 2015. The match ended in a 7–0 win.^[7]

In May 2018, he was named in Saudi Arabia's preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.^[8] On 4 June, Salman was included in 23-man squad for the World Cup.^[9] On 25 June, Salman scored the equalizing goal and his first ever World Cup goal from the penalty kick in a 2–1 victory over Egypt in their last group stage match of the tournament; it was Saudi Arabia's lone win in the tournament as the team crashed out of the group stage.^[10]

In June 2021, he assumed the role of captain for the national team at the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[11] Subsequently, in November 2022, he earned a spot in the 26-man squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.^[12] However, under the coaching of Roberto Mancini, Al-Faraj was excluded from the squad for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, reportedly due to off-field issues and frictions.^[13]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 31 May 2024^[14]

Club	Season	League		King Cup		Crown Prince Cup		Asia		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Al-Hilal	2008–09	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		5	0
	2009–10	1	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	—		4	0
	2010–11	10	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	—		11	0
	2011–12	15	1	2	0	3	0	6	0	—		26	1
	2012–13	22	3	2	0	3	0	9	1	—		36	4
	2013–14	22	0	3	0	2	0	6	0	—		33	0
	2014–15	20	2	5	1	4	2	13	1	—		42	6
	2015–16	19	2	4	0	4	1	8	0	1[a]	0	36	3
	2016–17	17	2	2	0	3	0	8	0	1[a]	0	31	2
	2017–18	17	3	0	0	—		7	0	—		24	3
	2018–19	8	2	0	0	—		0	0	2[b]	0	10	2
	2019–20	19	2	3	0	—		9	0	0	0	31	2
	2020–21	17	0	1	0	—		0	0	1[a]	0	19	0
	2021–22	22	0	4	1	—		10	1	1[c] 1[a]	0	38	2
	2022–23	8	0	2	0	—		4	0	—		14	0
	2023–24	21	0	2	0	—		8	0	—		31	0
	Total	242	17	33	2	19	3	90	3	7	0	391	25
Career totals		242	17	33	2	19	3	90	3	7	0	391	25

1. Appearances in Saudi Super Cup
2. One appearance in Arab Club Champions Cup, and one appearance in Saudi-Egyptian Super Cup
3. Appearances in FIFA Club World Cup

International

Statistics accurate as of match played 17 October 2023.^[15][16]

Saudi Arabia
Year	Apps	Goals
2012	2	0
2013	3	0
2014	7	0
2015	10	1
2016	8	0
2017	8	1
2018	11	2
2019	7	2
2020	0	0
2021	9	2
2022	6	0
2023	2	1
Total	73	9

International goals

Scores and results list Saudi Arabia's goal tally first.^[15]

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	3 September 2015	King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	Timor-Leste	4–0	7–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	7 October 2017		Jamaica	3–1	5–2	Friendly
3.	9 May 2018	Estadio Ramón de Carranza, Cádiz, Spain	Algeria	1–0	2–0
4.	25 June 2018	Volgograd Arena, Volgograd, Russia	Egypt	1–1	2–1	2018 FIFA World Cup
5.	14 November 2019	Pakhtakor Stadium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Uzbekistan	1–1	3–2	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.				2–2
7.	15 June 2021	King Saud University Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia		1–0	3–0
8.				2–0
9.	13 October 2023	Estádio Municipal de Portimão, Portimão, Portugal	Nigeria	1–0	2–2	Friendly

Honours

Al-Hilal

• Saudi Pro League, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2023–24
• King's Cup (Saudi Arabia): 2015, 2017, 2019–20, 2022–23, 2023–24
• Saudi Crown Prince Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16
• Saudi Super Cup: 2015, 2018, 2021, 2023^[17]
• AFC Champions League: 2019, 2021