Background
This was Al-Ahli's second appearance in the final. Al-Ahli beat Al-Hilal on penalties in their only final appearance in 2016. [7] Al-Ahli qualified by defeating Al-Qadsiah 5–1 in the semi-finals. [8]
Al-Nassr were making their sixth finals appearance, the joint most by any club. They won the title twice, in 2019 and 2020. Al-Nassr qualified after defeating Al-Ittihad 2–1 in the semi-finals. [9]
This was the first meeting between these two sides in the Saudi Super Cup and the eleventh meeting in a cup final. In the ten previous cup final meetings, Al-Ahli has won six times, while Al-Nassr has won four times. The first cup final between the two dates back to the 1971 King Cup final. [10] This was the 139th competitive meeting between the two sides in all competitions. In their prior encounters, Al-Ahli won 53 times, Al-Nassr won 50 times, and the two teams drew 35 times. [11] Majed Abdullah is the top scorer of this fixture with 24 goals. The two teams had met twice previously in the 2024–25 season, with the first fixture ending in a draw and Al-Nassr winning the return fixture.
Ahead of the final match, Al-Ahli striker Ivan Toney expressed frustration over his team's treatment during preparations in Hong Kong. He criticized the organizers for providing subpar training conditions, stating, "We've been on the worst pitch, and trained after other teams. We've been the most hated, the team nobody wants to win; it gives us that extra hunger and fight to win something against these teams". [12]
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