beIN MEDIA GROUP has announced that its flagship channel, beIN SPORTS, has acquired the rights across all its territories (Middle East and North Africa, France, Turkey, Asia, North America, and Australasia) to broadcast the highly-anticipated Riyadh Season Cup, taking place in Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd International Stadium on Thursday, January 19, 2023.

French champions PSG will face players from top Saudi clubs Al Hilal and Al-Nassr. In this match, recent Al-Nassr signing Cristiano Ronaldo will go head-to-head against his long-time rival, PSG forward Lionel Messi, who is fresh off his first FIFA World Cup victory with Argentina in Qatar last month. Ronaldo and Messi have not clashed since December 2020 when Juventus beat Barcelona 3-0.

The Saudi team will be led by legendary manager Marcelo Gallardo, a two-time Copa Libertadores winner as manager of River Plate. In PSG’s ranks will be Brazil’s Neymar and France World Cup star Kylian Mbappe, who was recently top scorer at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM.

In MENA, live studio coverage before the match kicks-off on the beIN SPORTS free-to-air channel and beIN SPORTS 2 in Arabic at 19:00 MECCA, while English coverage starts at 19:30 MECCA on beIN SPORTS ENGLISH 1, leading right up to the opening whistle at 20:00 MECCA. French commentary will also be provided on beIN SPORTS FRENCH 2. 

Saudi presenter, Tariq Al Hammad, will lead the Arabic studio analysis and will be joined by former Saudi national team captain Yasser Al Qahtani, former Tunisian professional and African Footballer of the Year Tarek Dhiab and former Egyptian professional star Mohamed Aboutrika. The English studio will be fronted by beIN’s presenter Nicky Crosby with expert analysis from former French football professional and PSG player Didier Domi, who currently serves as a technical advisor to the PSG Academy in Doha.