‘Exciting new chapter’: Kings League MENA announces Riyadh return as Saudi team DR7 topple world champions

Kings League MENA is set to return to the Saudi capital for its first full-length season on Sept. 18 with an expanded roster of 10 teams.

The competition, a joint venture between Kings League and Saudi PIF company SURJ Sports Investment, is the regional edition of the next-generation, seven-a-side football league created by Gerard Pique, formerly of FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team.

The announcement came after Saudi team DR7 recorded a historic victory at the Kings World Cup Clubs.

Kings League CEO Djamel Agaoua said: “Expanding to 10 teams marks an exciting new chapter, bringing together even more of the region’s leading creators to deliver the excitement, emotion and entertainment that define the Kings League experience for a new generation of fans.”

Ten of the biggest content creators and streamers from across the Middle East and North Africa region will take control of teams in the next edition, competing against each other over 11 matchdays with the championship-deciding Final Four taking place on Oct. 30.

The return of Kings League MENA was announced during the live broadcast of the Kings World Cup Clubs 2026. Saudi content creator Drb7h revealed the news just before his team, DR7, beat the reigning Kings League world champions, Los Troncos FC, from Kings League Spain, in an incredible match in Milan. DR7 triumphed 6-1 over hot favorites Los Troncos.

A second Kings League MENA team, FWZ, led by team president Fwaz, began their World Cup campaign with a 6-3 loss to Atletico Parceros FC, a team owned by Colombian football icon James Rodríguez.

New MENA presidents

The team presidents for the next Kings League MENA competition will include a mixture of returning favorites from the hugely successful eight-team Kings Cup MENA, as well as some new, high-profile names.

Reigning champion Drb7h will return to defend his title with DR7. Also returning are: 3BS, led by Absi (Jordan); ABO FC, led by AboFlah (Qatar); last year’s runners-up FWZ, led by Fwaz (Kuwait); Red Zone, led by Maherco (Jordan); Turbo, led by Tarboun (Egypt); and Ultra Chmicha, led by Ilyas Elmaliki (Morocco). The new presidents and teams will be revealed in the weeks leading up to kickoff.

Riyadh’s Cool Arena will again be the venue for all matches, with capacity for 1,500 fans to witness the Arab world’s biggest creators leading their seven-a-side teams and battle for the regional crown.

The Kings League MENA competition starting in September will officially be “Split 1” — the first full season of the regional competition. The tournament format will involve a regular season league stage, in which teams play each other twice. The final classification in the league stage will determine which of them qualify for the champion-deciding playoffs.