Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will go head to head in February with Al Nassr to play against Inter Miami.
Billed as ‘The Last Dance’, Inter Miami will face Al Nassr in a three-team tournament, the Riyadh Season Cup, which also includes Al Hilal.
The fixture will go ahead in February next year and will see Ronaldo and Messi face-off for potentially the last time in their careers.
The match will go ahead at the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh and will go ahead in the same month as Tyson Fury’s mega-fight against Oleksandr Usyk to become undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
A final date has not been finalised but it’s understood the hope is to stage it before Fury vs Usyk.
It continues Saudi Arabia’s aggressive expansion into the world of sport, including football, boxing, golf and motorsport.
As for Ronaldo and Messi, the two have had sparkling careers where many have argued they are the best players of all time.
On an individual level, their goal records and trophies are on a different planet.
But in the past 12 months, the two have left Europe behind as they enter the twilight years of their careers.
Ronaldo signed for Al Nassr in December after his contract at Manchester United was ripped up following a fallout with the club, while Messi moved to the United States to sign for David Beckham’s Inter Miami after his contract expired at Paris Saint-Germain.
The two superstars did meet in January in a friendly between PSG and the Saudi All-Star XI when Messi was still at the Parc des Princes.
In an exciting clash that ended 5-4 to the French side, Ronaldo netted twice after Messi opened the scores while Neymar missed from the penalty spot.
While Al Nassr and Inter Miami’s clash will undoubtedly be the highlight of the Riyadh Season Cup, Neymar looks set to miss out.
Having signed for Al Hilal in the summer, who are also at the tournament, the Brazilian suffered a serious ACL injury and is not expected back until next season.
Ronaldo and Messi have won 13 Ballon d’Or awards between them, 79 official trophies and 1664 goals for club and country.
Messi won the World Cup last year in Qatar, helping him lift his eighth Ballon d’Or earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo spearheaded Portugal’s Euro-winning squad of 2016, as well as winning the inaugural Nations League in 2019.@Talksports.