Dubbed ‘The Last Dance’, the great rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is set to be revived for one final time at the 2024 Riyadh Season Cup.
While merely a glorified friendly tournament, this year’s iteration will see Ronaldo and Messi go head-to-head, as was the case when Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain made the trip to Saudi Arabia to face the Saudi All-Stars XI led by Ronaldo in 2023.
The Riyadh Season Cup is likely to get plenty of attention, while social media will undoubtedly erupt when the tournament comes around, but what exactly is the competition?
Let’s take a look at the details of the 2024 Riyadh Season Cup.
The Riyadh Season Cup is part of the annual Saudi Arabian state-funded entertainment and sport festival known as the Riyadh Season.
The Riyadh Season began in 2019 and encompasses a wide range of sports, with Anthony Joshua’s fight with Otto Wallin on 23 December, dubbed the ‘Day of Reckoning’, one of the headline events from this year’s festival.
Tyson Fury’s fight with Francis Ngannou kicked off this year’s Riyadh Season back in late October, while the 2023/24 Supercopa de Espana, 2023 Supercoppa Italiana and the 2023 Turkish Super Cup will also be the main football events that make up the season.
The Riyadh Season Cup itself hit peak popularity in 2023 when Messi, then at PSG, faced off against Ronaldo, who was representing the Saudi All-Star XI – a match that PSG won 5-4. The Portuguese striker netted twice on that occasion, while Messi bagged one himself in a nine-goal affair.
The Riyadh Season Cup will commence in the first week of February 2024, although specific dates for the tournament are yet to be announced.
The competition will take place shortly after the Supercopa de Espana in mid-January and the Supercoppa Italiana in late January.
There will be three teams taking part at the 2024 Riyadh Season Cup, two of which will obviously be Ronaldo‘s Al Nassr and Messi‘s Inter Miami.
They will be joined by Neymar’s Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal, although the Brazilian will miss a reunion with old teammate and close friend Messi due to his long-term injury.
For Al Hilal and Al Nassr, the tournament will come during the Saudi Pro League season, but for Messi’s Inter Miami it will be one of their final pre-season games before the 2024 Major League Soccer season.
Each team will face off against one another in a league format, with the highest points scorer ultimately winning the Riyadh Season Cup – despite the fact that the trophy is actually a pentagon-shaped shield.
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