Laporte, Mane lead RSL stars' success on international stage | OneFootball

A number of Roshn Saudi League stars will return to domestic action this week with a spring in their step following the final round of international matches on Tuesday night.

Several Al Nassr players made headlines during a packed day of action, highlighted by Aymeric Laporte scoring the winner in Spain’s UEFA Nations League qualifying encounter with Serbia, and Sadio Mane’s game-deciding strike for Senegal against Malawi.

Also, Al Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo reached yet another milestone in his incredible career: in beginning Portugal’s 0-0 draw in the UEFA Nations League qualifier with Scotland, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner made his 200th international start.

The match in Glasgow also featured Al Hilal full-back Joao Cancelo, while club teammate Ruben Neves was a second-half substitute. Elsewhere, Damac duo Florin Nita and Nicolae Stanciu helped Romania to a 2-1 victory in Lithuania.

However, it will perhaps be Laporte boasting the biggest smile when he returns to the Kingdom. The Al Nassr defender netted the opener in Spain's 3-0 victory at home to Serbia – a match that pitted against one another not only the two top teams in Group A4, but threw up a direct confrontation Al Hilal rival Aleksandar Mitrovic. Spain, the current European champions, advance to the quarter-finals.

In 2025 AFCON qualifying, Mane made it two goals in two matches for Senegal during this FIFA international break, the former Liverpool man curling home a 96th-minute free-kick to see off Malawi 1-0. The win, which included Al Hilal defender Kalidou Koulibaly and Al Shabab forward Habib Diallo, secured the 2021 continental champions’ spot at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco.

Also in the AFCON qualifiers, Al Riyadh winger Faiz Selemani scored for Comoros in their 1-1 draw with Tunisia in the 2025, with fellow RSL representative Myziane Maolida, of Al Kholood, starting in attack alongside him. Damac forward Francois Kamano was a part of Guinea’s 3-0 win in Ethiopia, while Al Kholood midfielder Aliou Dieng played the entirety of Mali’s goalless draw away to Guinea-Bissau.

In the AFC qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a late goal from Al Riyadh’s Ibrahim Bayesh could not prevent Iraq from slipping to a 3-2 defeat in South Korea, while Al Wehda’s Craig Goodwin was introduced as a late substitute in Australia’s hard-fought 1-1 draw in Japan.

Saudi Arabia could manage only a point, too, the Green Falcons held to a goalless draw by Bahrain at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. Roberto Mancini’s side sit third in Group C, level on points with second-placed Australia.

In CONMEBOL qualification, Al Qadsiah midfielder Nahitan Nandez took part in the full 90 minutes of Uruguay’s 0-0 draw at home to Ecuador, although Al Taawoun’s Lucas Chavez didn’t have quite a night to remember as he came on as a second-half substitute in Bolivia’s 6-0 defeat to a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina.

And last, but certainly not least, Demarai Gray helped Jamaica progress to the CONCACAF Nations League quarter-finals with a 0-0 draw with Honduras in Kingston.