Which sporting events is Saudi Arabia hosting in 2026?

Saudi Arabia is set for another packed year on the international sporting circuit in 2026, with major events returning across motorsport, football, golf, tennis, combat sports entertainment and esports.

From the Dakar Rally in January to the WTA Finals in November, the Kingdom’s calendar again spans some of the biggest competitions in global sport. Here, Al Arabiya English highlights the key international sporting occasions that Saudi Arabia is hosting in 2026.

January

Dakar Rally (January 3-17)

The world’s most famous cross-country rally opens Saudi Arabia’s sporting calendar, bringing its signature mix of extreme endurance and high-speed navigation across desert terrain. Dakar’s modern era has been based in the Kingdom since 2020, and the 2026 edition – which ends on the Red Sea coast, again anchors the international motorsport calendar.

Last year produced a home milestone when Yazeed Al-Rajhi became the first Saudi driver to win Dakar’s top car category, beating a field stacked with factory-backed teams. The 2026 field includes established Dakar winners and marquee names again, including Nasser Al-Attiyah, Sebastien Loeb, Carlos Sainz and Nani Roma, while record title-holder Stephane Peterhansel is also set for Dakar duty in 2026 as part of Defender’s program in the Stock class.

AFC U23 Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2026 (January 6-24)

Saudi Arabia is hosting the AFC U-23 Asian Cup across Riyadh and Jeddah, with matches spread across four venues. It is the continent’s key youth championship, bringing 16 national teams to the Kingdom for a group stage followed by knockout football.

Japan arrived in Saudi Arabia as defending champion after lifting the 2024 title in Qatar with a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan in the final.

Supercopa de Espana (January 7-11)

The Supercopa de Espana returned to Jeddah in January, with all three matches staged at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.

The four-team tournament delivered another week of Spanish heavyweight football on Saudi soil. Barcelona lifted the trophy after a dramatic ‘El Clasico’ final, beating rival Real Madrid 3-2 to win its 16th Supercopa title. Raphinha scored twice and Robert Lewandowski added the other goal for Barca, which saw out the game with 10 men after Frenkie de Jong was sent off.

Saudi Arabia Darts Masters (January 19-20)

Darts has added a new stop in the region, with the inaugural Riyadh Season Saudi Arabia Darts Masters taking place in Riyadh.

The World Series of Darts format pitches eight PDC stars against eight Asian Tour representatives in round one, with the headline star Luke Littler – arriving as the newly crowned back-to-back PDC World Darts Champion at the age of 18.

Littler fronts a line-up that also includes Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price, and the Riyadh staging has an added hook: organizers have introduced the “Golden Bullseye” – offering $100,000 for a nine-dart finish and the chance to double it to $200,000 if the player then hits the bullseye with a 10th dart.

E1 Jeddah GP (January 23-24)

The UIM E1 World Championship presented by PIF launches its 2026 season in Jeddah, bringing the all-electric RaceBird powerboats back to the Red Sea for a short-format weekend built around qualifying on the Friday and racing on the Saturday.

The series has a distinctive celebrity ownership model, with franchises fronted by global names such as LeBron James (Team AlUla), Tom Brady (Team Brady) and Rafael Nadal (Team Rafa), alongside other headline owners across the grid including Virat Kohli and Will Smith.

ALUla Tour (January 27-31)

Elite road cycling returns to the Kingdoms as the five-stage AlUla Tour takes elite UCI riders through some of Saudi Arabia’s most spectacular scenery. Last year, Britain’s Tom Pidcock won the overall title, taking the race after a week that combined sprint stages with a late general-classification shake-up.

The 2026 edition steps up a level with the race classified in the UCI ProSeries for the first time, and Team Jayco AlUla will line up in the event – adding an extra layer of interest for local fans. The official start list includes Dylan Groenewegen in Jayco AlUla colors, with organizers also previewing a sprint-heavy cast that features Tim Merlier and Jonathan Milan.

WWE Royal Rumble (January 31)

WWE brings one of its flagship annual events to Saudi Arabia to round out January, with Royal Rumble 2026 set to take place at King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh. It is the first time the Royal Rumble has ever taken place outside North America, with SmackDown also scheduled from KAFD the night before. The Royal Rumble is built around the men’s and women’s over-the-top-rope elimination matches, with the winners earning a guaranteed world title opportunity at WrestleMania.

February

LIV Golf Riyadh (February 4-7)

Opening its 2026 season in Saudi Arabia, LIV Golf returns to Riyadh Golf Club, moving to a four-round format for the first time. It has quickly become a familiar early-season stop for the league and will showcase headline names including Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson.

Last year’s season opener in Riyadh saw Cleeks GC’s Adrian Meronk go wire-to-wire to claim his first LIV individual title, finishing two shots clear of Rahm and Sebastian Munoz, while Rahm’s Legion XIII also led from the front to win the team event.

PIF Saudi Ladies International (February 11-14)

Riyadh also stages one of women’s golf’s most high-profile early-season stops in 2026, with the PIF Saudi Ladies International happening at Riyadh Golf Club again. It sits at the front of the Ladies European Tour schedule and remains the opening event of the PIF Global Series, keeping Saudi Arabia’s flagship women’s tournament in a prime calendar slot.

Last year’s edition in Riyadh was emphatic: Jeeno Thitikul ran away with the title, finishing 16-under and winning by four shots, a result that underlined her status at the top end of the women’s game.

Jeddah E-Prix (February 13-14)

Formula E returns to Saudi Arabia next month with a double-header under the lights on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Last season saw Formula E switch from Diriyah to Jeddah for the first time and it produced a strong first edition; Maximilian Gunther won the inaugural race on the final corner, beating Oliver Rowland and Taylor Barnard, before Rowland hit back 24 hours later, winning the second race.

This time around, a stacked field includes Pascal Wehrlein (Porsche), Mitch Evans and Antonio Felix da Costa (Jaguar TCS Racing), Nyck de Vries and Edoardo Mortara (Mahindra Racing), and Jake Dennis (Andretti).

Saudi Cup weekend (February 13-14)

The Kingdom’s flagship international race meeting is back at the King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh this February, with the Saudi Cup itself staged on the Saturday night. The meeting remains anchored by the $20 million Saudi Cup – still the richest race in world horse racing, with the weekend carrying more than $38.1 million in total prize money across the card.

Last year’s Saudi Cup delivered a finish worthy of the hype, as Japan’s Forever Young ran down Hong Kong superstar Romantic Warrior in the closing strides to win a thriller.

April

AFC Champions League Elite Finals (April 16-25)

Asian club football’s business will be hosted in Saudi Arabia for the second successive year in April, with the AFC Champions League Elite Finals Jeddah 2026 again centralizing the decisive stage of the continental tournament. The final seven matches of the 2025-26 competition will be staged in the Kingdom and the Saudi backdrop is already well established: last season’s first ACL Elite title went to Al Ahli, who beat Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 in the final in front of more than 58,000 fans at King Abdullah Sports City. Al Ahli could be back among the contenders this year, along with fellow Saudi sides Al Hilal and Al Ittihad.

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (April 17-19)

Formula 1 returns to the Kingdom in April, with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix back at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. It remains one of the sport’s most prominent street-circuit weekends, and again gives Jeddah a fixed slot among F1’s early-season flyaways.

Last year’s race in Jeddah delivered a flashpoint at the front as Oscar Piastri won for McLaren, with Max Verstappen second after a five-second penalty stemming from a Turn 1 incident, and Charles Leclerc third for Ferrari. Those star names will be back in the Kingdom in April, along with reigning world champion Lando Norris.

July/August

Esports World Cup (July 6-August 23)

Riyadh hosts the Esports World Cup this summer as the multi-week, multi-title festival is built once again around an overarching Club Championship. Organizers have confirmed 24 games for 2026, with 22 returning titles announced so far and additional games still to be revealed, keeping the event structured as a rolling program of standalone tournaments that feed into the overall club standings. Last year’s edition set the benchmark for how the Club Championship can swing late: Team Falcons were crowned 2025 club champions after seven weeks of competition that went down to the final weekend.

September

“Mexico Against The World” Boxing (September 12)

Saudi Arabia’s 2026 boxing calendar has a major anchor in September, with Canelo Alvarez confirmed to return on September 12 in Riyadh on a card billed “Mexico Against the World.” The bout is scheduled to fall on Mexican Independence weekend, keeping to Alvarez’s traditional September slot, and it is being presented as a world title fight – though the opponent has not yet been announced. Alvarez is a multi-division champion and one of boxing’s defining pay-per-view attractions.

November

WTA Finals Riyadh (November 7-14)

Saudi Arabia will stage the WTA Finals in Riyadh in November as the sport’s end-of-year showcase continues to be hosted in its new home in the Kingdom. Bringing together the top eight singles players and doubles teams for a round-robin group phase that builds into the semi-finals and final. The 2025 tournament saw a statement performance from Elena Rybakina, who went unbeaten through the week and beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 in the final to lift the title.

WRC Rally Saudi Arabia (November 11-14)

After a successful debut in 2025, the FIA World Rally Championship returns to the Kingdom for Round 14 in 2026 – the season finale. Organizers will be hoping for a repeat of the drama of last year’s Saudi event, which decided the championship: Thierry Neuville won the rally, while Sebastien Ogier clinched his ninth WRC world title in Saudi Arabia, drawing level with Sebastien Loeb’s record haul.

T100 Triathlon World Tour (TBC)

Saudi Arabia is on the T100 Triathlon World Tour calendar in 2026, with the Saudi stop forming part of a late-season run that concludes with the tour finals in Qatar. Launched in 2024 by the Professional Triathletes Organization (PTO) in partnership with World Triathlon, T100 is raced over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike, 18km run) and sits at the sharp end of the sport’s long-distance schedule. The Saudi Arabia leg will also offer mass participation alongside the pro racing, with amateurs able to take place in the 100km triathlon or Olympic-distance triathlon.