Yousuf al-Thunayan

Yousuf Nasser al-Thunayan (born 1963) is a former international football player from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He played for al-Hilal SFC and the Saudi national team. As a midfielder, he achieved numerous championships at the local, regional, and international levels with his club and the national team. He also captained the national team in several global sporting events, including winning the Asian Cup in 1996 and participating in the 1998 World Cup in France.

Yousuf al-Thunayan began his football career with al-Hilal SFC from al-Hilal School, which was supervised by Prince Bandar Bin Mohammed Bin Saud al-Kabeer, under the leadership of Yugoslav coach Broćić. The school included two hundred young players, and after selection, Yousuf al-Thunayan was chosen among fifty players. He officially joined the school in 1980 and continued with al-Hilal SFC across all age categories until he reached the first team.

Yousuf al-Thunayan achieved all local championship titles with al-Hilal SFC: King Abdulaziz Cup, the Founder's Cup, King's Cup, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques League Cup, Crown Prince Cup, Premier League, Federation Cup, Arab championships (Arab Champions League, Arab Elite Cup), GCC Clubs Cup, and Asian championships (Asian Club Championship, Asian Cup Winners' Cup, Asian Super Cup).

Yousuf al-Thunayan participated in several tournaments with all Saudi national teams, including World Cup qualifiers for multiple editions, as well as participation in the 1998 World Cup finals, Gulf Cup tournaments, Arab Cup tournaments, in addition to the FIFA Confederations Cup, the Australia Gold Cup, and the Asian Cup. He also participated in the Olympic Games held in Beijing. He played in eighty-one international matches with the Saudi national teams, including sixty matches as a starting player, and thirty-seven matches he played entirely without being substituted. He scored twenty goals for the national team in various matches. He scored in seventeen tournaments, most notably the 1998 World Cup, where he scored a goal via a penalty kick.