Turki Al-Ammar

Turki Al-Ammar
Turki Marwan Saad Al-Ammar (born 23 September 1999) is a Saudi Arabian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Al-Qadsiah and the Saudi Arabia national team.
Widely regarded for his skillful display and good vision, Al-Ammar is praised to be one of the next top best Saudi football talents.
Career
Club career
Al-Ammar began his career at the youth team of Al-Shabab. He made his first-team debut for Al-Shabab on 17 November 2017 in the league match against Al-Ittihad. He came off the bench replacing Abdullah Al-Khaibari in the 84th minute. On 30 November 2017, Al-Ammar made his first start for Al-Shabab in the 2–1 win against Al-Taawoun. He ended his first season at the club making 16 appearances in all competitions. In addition, Al-Ammar won the Young Player of the Season award for the 2017–18 season. During the 2018–19 season, Al-Ammar missed the beginning of the season due to the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship. He made his return on 23 November 2018 in the league match against Al-Nassr. On 28 January 2019, Al-Ammar signed his first professional contract with the club. He was ruled out until the end of the season due to injury on 25 February 2019. On 5 March 2020, Al-Ammar scored his first goal for Al-Shabab, in the 4–0 win against Al-Adalah.
On 29 August 2023, Al-Ammar joined Saudi First Division League side Al-Qadsiah on a three-year deal.
International career
U-20 Saudi Arabia
He was named on the final list of the Saudi Arabia U19 participating in the 2018 AFC U-19 Championship held in Indonesia. This tournament saw Turki Al-Ammar managed an outstanding performance, scoring four goals for the Saudi side as his skillful display put up an instrumental part of Saudi Arabia's conquest of the tournament. For this reason, he was named as the best player of the competition, and was later included as young player of the year by the Asian Football Confederation, the first Saudi to ever achieve this honor.
However, despite skillful performance of Al-Ammar in the 2018 U-19 Asian Cup, his performance in the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Poland was a complete disappointment, with he silenced himself in many important moments as Saudi Arabia, the champions of Asia, exited from the group stage in a complete humiliation with three straight defeats, the first time since 1985.
Senior team
His impressive performance at the 2018 U-19 Asian Cup allowed him to occupy a spot in the Saudi squad, as he was first called up to the main team by then-manager Juan Antonio Pizzi for the friendlies against Yemen, Jordan and South Korea. He was unused for the match against Yemen and Jordan. He was later omitted from the squad for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
Turki Al-Ammar finally made his debut for the senior team in the friendly against Paraguay at home, came on as substitute for Yahya Al-Shehri at the second half, where they drew goalless. He was also included to the final squad of the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup under coach Hervé Renard, but after the disastrous 1–3 loss to Kuwait, he is not used. Saudi Arabia eventually recovered with Turki Al-Ammar being unused to march to the final.
Career statistics
Club
International
International goals
Scores and results list Saudi Arabia's goal tally first.
Honours
International
Saudi Arabia U20
AFC U-19 Championship: 2018
Saudi Arabia U23
AFC U-23 Asian Cup: 2022
Individual
AFC U-19 Championship MVP: 2018
Asian Young Footballer of the Year: 2018
Saudi Pro League Young Player of the Year: 2018
References
1999 births
Living people
Saudi Arabian men's footballers
Saudi Arabia men's youth international footballers
Saudi Arabia men's international footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Saudi Pro League players
Saudi First Division League players
Al Shabab FC (Riyadh) players
Al Qadsiah FC players
Asian Young Footballer of the Year winners