The Asian Footballer of the Year awards are annual prizes awarded to the best Asian player in a calendar year.

History

A football handbook took a poll about who was the best Asian footballer in 1985, and this poll is regarded as the origin of the Asian footballer award.[1][2] However, it was not a selection of clear process or official organization, and is generally excluded from the list.[3][4] The award began in 1988 through International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) with sport magazines and journalists, then the presenter was changed to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1994.[3][4]

Since 2005, the award gives its qualification to nominees who attend the awards ceremony, and so the rule caused much controversy about excluding players who could not attend the ceremony by playing for European clubs.[5][6][7][8][9] Among them, Park Ji-sung and Shunsuke Nakamura were nominated for Ballon d'Or. The AFC is awarding the "Asian International Player of the Year" award to reduce the controversy since 2012, but AFC awards were still having problems that the process and criteria of selection were obscure. Eventually, the "Best Footballer in Asia" award inspired by Ballon d'Or was made in 2013.[10]

When continental confederations including AFC cancelled their awards ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, IFFHS restarted to select the Players of the Year about the world and each continent.

Titan Sports award

Son Heung-min won the Best Footballer in Asia award nine times.

The Best Footballer in Asia (Chinese: 亚洲金球奖) is an annual association football award organized and presented by Titan Sports. It is awarded to Asian player or AFC club's player who has the best performance in a calendar year.

Inspired by Ballon d'Or and France Football, the editorial team of Titan Sports decided to launch an award in honor of the player deemed to have performed the best in Asian football over the previous year.[11] This award was founded in 2013. The winner is voted by a panel of football journalists, the majority of whom are from nations/regions corresponding to national associations of Asian Football Confederation, while the others are from media outlets of non-AFC nations/regions.

Multiple winners

Player Wins Winning years
South Korea Son Heung-min 9 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

AFC award

Hidetoshi Nakata won the AFC Player of the Year award in 1997 and 1998.
Server Djeparov won the AFC Player of the Year award in 2008 and 2011.

The AFC Player of the Year is an annual prize presented by Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is awarded to the Asian player who has the best performance at AFC club(s) in a calendar year.

Winners

Year Rank Player Team Points Ref.
1994 1st Saudi Arabia Saeed Owairan Saudi Arabia Al-Shabab — [3]
1995 1st Japan Masami Ihara Japan Yokohama Marinos — [3]
1996 1st Iran Khodadad Azizi Iran Bahman — [3]
— Iran Ali Daei Qatar Al Sadd
South Korea Ko Jeong-woon South Korea Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma
Saudi Arabia Mohamed Al-Deayea Saudi Arabia Al-Tai
Saudi Arabia Yousuf Al-Thunayan Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
1997 1st Japan Hidetoshi Nakata Japan Shonan Bellmare — [3]
— South Korea Choi Yong-soo South Korea Sangmu FC
Iran Karim Bagheri Germany Arminia Bielefeld
Iran Khodadad Azizi Germany 1. FC Köln
1998 1st Japan Hidetoshi Nakata Italy Perugia — [3]
— Iran Ali Daei Germany Bayern Munich
China Fan Zhiyi England Crystal Palace
Kuwait Jasem Al Huwaidi Kuwait Al-Salmiya
1999 1st Iran Ali Daei Germany Hertha BSC — [3]
— Kuwait Bashar Abdullah Kuwait Al-Salmiya
Japan Hidetoshi Nakata Italy Perugia
South Korea Hwang Sun-hong Japan Cerezo Osaka
Japan Masashi Nakayama Japan Júbilo Iwata
China Sun Wen[note 1] China Shanghai SVA
2000 1st Saudi Arabia Nawaf Al-Temyat Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal — [3]
— Japan Hiroshi Nanami Japan Júbilo Iwata
South Korea Lee Dong-gook South Korea Pohang Steelers
Japan Ryuzo Morioka Japan Shimizu S-Pulse
2001 1st China Fan Zhiyi Scotland Dundee — [3]
— Saudi Arabia Abdullah Al-Shehan Saudi Arabia Al-Shabab
Iran Ali Karimi United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli
China Li Tie China Liaoning Fushun Tegang
Uzbekistan Mirjalol Qosimov Russia Krylia Sovetov Samara
2002 1st Japan Shinji Ono Netherlands Feyenoord — [3]
— South Korea Ahn Jung-hwan Italy Perugia
Japan Junichi Inamoto England Fulham
China Li Tie England Everton
2003 1st Iran Mehdi Mahdavikia Germany Hamburger SV — [3]
— Uzbekistan Maxim Shatskikh Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv
Thailand Therdsak Chaiman Thailand BEC Tero Sasana
2004 1st Iran Ali Karimi United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli — [3]
— Bahrain A'ala Hubail Bahrain Al-Ahli
Japan Shunsuke Nakamura Italy Reggina
2005 1st Saudi Arabia Hamad Al-Montashari Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad — [note 2]
2nd Uzbekistan Maxim Shatskikh Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv
2006 1st Qatar Khalfan Ibrahim Qatar Al Sadd — [14]
— Kuwait Bader Al-Mutawa Kuwait Qadsia
Saudi Arabia Mohammad Al-Shalhoub Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
2007 1st Saudi Arabia Yasser Al-Qahtani Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal — [15]
— Iraq Nashat Akram United Arab Emirates Al-Ain
Iraq Younis Mahmoud Qatar Al-Gharafa
2008 1st Uzbekistan Server Djeparov Uzbekistan Bunyodkor — [16]
— United Arab Emirates Ismail Matar United Arab Emirates Al-Wahda
Qatar Sebastián Soria Qatar Qatar SC
Japan Yasuhito Endō Japan Gamba Osaka
Japan Yuji Nakazawa Japan Yokohama F. Marinos
2009 1st Japan Yasuhito Endō Japan Gamba Osaka 120 [note 3]
2nd Japan Kengo Nakamura Japan Kawasaki Frontale 100
Bahrain Sayed Mohamed Adnan Qatar Al-Khor 100
2010 1st Australia Saša Ognenovski South Korea Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma — [18]
— Kuwait Bader Al-Mutawa Kuwait Qadsia
Iran Farhad Majidi Iran Esteghlal
Iran Farshid Talebi Iran Zob Ahan
Bahrain Hussain Salman Bahrain Al-Riffa
2011 1st Uzbekistan Server Djeparov Saudi Arabia Al-Shabab — [note 2]
2nd Iran Hadi Aghily Qatar Al-Arabi
2012 1st South Korea Lee Keun-ho South Korea Ulsan Hyundai — [19]
— Iran Ali Karimi Iran Persepolis
China Zheng Zhi China Guangzhou Evergrande
2013 1st China Zheng Zhi China Guangzhou Evergrande — [20]
— South Korea Ha Dae-sung South Korea FC Seoul
Iran Javad Nekounam Iran Esteghlal
2014 1st Saudi Arabia Nasser Al-Shamrani Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal — [21]
— United Arab Emirates Ismail Ahmed United Arab Emirates Al-Ain
Qatar Khalfan Ibrahim Qatar Al Sadd
2015 1st United Arab Emirates Ahmed Khalil United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli — [22]
— United Arab Emirates Omar Abdulrahman United Arab Emirates Al-Ain
China Zheng Zhi China Guangzhou Evergrande
2016 1st United Arab Emirates Omar Abdulrahman United Arab Emirates Al-Ain — [23]
— Iraq Hammadi Ahmed Iraq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
China Wu Lei China Shanghai SIPG
2017 1st Syria Omar Kharbin Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal — [24]
— United Arab Emirates Omar Abdulrahman United Arab Emirates Al-Ain
China Wu Lei China Shanghai SIPG
2018 1st Qatar Abdelkarim Hassan Qatar Al Sadd — [25]
— Japan Kento Misao Japan Kashima Antlers
Japan Yuma Suzuki Japan Kashima Antlers
2019 1st Qatar Akram Afif Qatar Al Sadd — [26]
— Iran Alireza Beiranvand Iran Persepolis
Japan Tomoaki Makino Japan Urawa Red Diamonds
Not awarded from 2020 to 2021
2022 1st Saudi Arabia Salem Al-Dawsari Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal — [27]
— Qatar Almoez Ali Qatar Al-Duhail
Australia Mathew Leckie Australia Melbourne City

Multiple winners

Player Wins Winning years
Japan Hidetoshi Nakata 2 1997, 1998
Uzbekistan Server Djeparov 2 2008, 2011

AFC award (international)

Son Heung-min won the AFC Asian International Player of the Year award in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

The AFC Asian International Player of the Year is an annual prize presented by Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is awarded to the Asian player who has the best performance outside Asia in a calendar year.

Winners

Year Rank Player Team Ref.
2012 1st Japan Shinji Kagawa England Manchester United [28]
— Australia Mark Schwarzer England Fulham
Japan Yuto Nagatomo Italy Internazionale
2013 1st Japan Yuto Nagatomo Italy Internazionale [29]
— Japan Keisuke Honda Russia CSKA Moscow
South Korea Son Heung-min Germany Bayer Leverkusen
2014 1st Australia Mile Jedinak England Crystal Palace [30]
— South Korea Ki Sung-yueng England Swansea City
Australia Tim Cahill United States New York Red Bulls
2015 1st South Korea Son Heung-min England Tottenham Hotspur [31]
— South Korea Ki Sung-yueng England Swansea City
Australia Massimo Luongo England Queens Park Rangers
2016 1st Japan Shinji Okazaki England Leicester City [32]
— Japan Shinji Kagawa Germany Borussia Dortmund
South Korea Son Heung-min England Tottenham Hotspur
2017 1st South Korea Son Heung-min England Tottenham Hotspur [33]
— Australia Aaron Mooy England Huddersfield Town
Japan Shinji Kagawa Germany Borussia Dortmund
2018 1st Japan Makoto Hasebe Germany Eintracht Frankfurt [34]
2019 1st South Korea Son Heung-min England Tottenham Hotspur [35][36]
— Japan Makoto Hasebe Germany Eintracht Frankfurt
Iran Sardar Azmoun Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg
Not awarded from 2020 to 2021
2022 1st South Korea Kim Min-jae Italy Napoli [37]
— Iran Mehdi Taremi Portugal Porto
Japan Kaoru Mitoma England Brighton & Hove Albion

Multiple winners

Player Wins Winning years
South Korea Son Heung-min 3 2015, 2017, 2019

IFFHS award

Son Heung-min won the IFFHS Asian Player of the Year award in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The IFFHS Asia's Footballer of the Year is an annual prize presented by International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). It had originally been the predecessor of the AFC Player of the Year, but was revived in 2020.

Winners

Year Rank Player Team Points Ref.
1988 1st Iraq Ahmed Radhi Iraq Al-Rasheed 26 [3]
2nd South Korea Kim Joo-sung South Korea Daewoo Royals 16
3rd Saudi Arabia Majed Abdullah Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr 14
1989 1st South Korea Kim Joo-sung South Korea Daewoo Royals 38 [3]
2nd Saudi Arabia Majed Abdullah Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr 12
3rd Iraq Ahmed Radhi Iraq Al-Rasheed 6
1990 1st South Korea Kim Joo-sung South Korea Daewoo Royals 36 [3]
2nd Iran Farshad Pious Iran Persepolis 28
3rd United Arab Emirates Adnan Al-Talyani United Arab Emirates Al-Shaab 16
1991 1st South Korea Kim Joo-sung South Korea Daewoo Royals 31 [38]
2nd South Korea Chung Yong-hwan South Korea Daewoo Royals 28
3rd Iran Samad Marfavi Iran Esteghlal 16
1992 1st Japan Kazuyoshi Miura Japan Verdy Kawasaki 30 [3][39]
2nd Saudi Arabia Fahad Al-Bishi Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr 17
3rd Iran Mehdi Fonounizadeh Iran Esteghlal 13
Not awarded from 1993 to 2019
2020 1st South Korea Son Heung-min England Tottenham Hotspur — [40]
— Iran Sardar Azmoun Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg
Japan Takumi Minamino England Liverpool
2021 1st South Korea Son Heung-min England Tottenham Hotspur — [41]
2022 1st South Korea Son Heung-min England Tottenham Hotspur — [42]

Multiple winners

Player Wins Winning years
South Korea Kim Joo-sung 3 1989, 1990, 1991
South Korea Son Heung-min 3 2020, 2021, 2022

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The only woman player to be nominated for the award.
  2. 1 2 Only two players of the shortlist competed for the award under a new rule to omit nominees who didn't attend the ceremony.[12][13]
  3. ↑ Points of the AFC were exceptionally released in this year.[17]

References

  1. ↑ Pierrend, José (3 January 2008). "Asian Player of the Year 1984". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  2. ↑ "THE ASIA-OCEANIA SOCCER HANDBOOK". Sportsmemories by Heartbooks. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pierrend, José; Garin, Erik. "Asian Player of the Year". RSSSF. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Asian Player of the Year". Infoplease. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "Saudi Arabia's Hamad named Asia's top player". The Star Malaysia. 1 December 2005. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  6. ↑ "Saudi Arabian is Asia's footballer of the year". Rediff.com. 1 December 2005. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  7. ↑ Somerford, Ben (20 September 2011). "The Asian Football Confederation Needs To Change The Criteria Behind Its Player Of The Year Award". Goal. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  8. ↑ "Djeparov wins AFC Player award". Al Jazeera. 24 November 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  9. ↑ "Class act Al Montashari". The World Game. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  10. ↑ "Best Footballer in Asia award: All you need to know". Fox Sports Asia. 26 December 2017. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  11. ↑ "Made in Titan: Best Footballer in Asia aims to record the history of football (in Chinese) 媒体参与书写足球历史 亚洲金球奖体坛制造". Titan Sports. 25 October 2013. Archived from the original on 24 December 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  12. ↑ "Al Montashari named Asian Player of the Year". World Soccer. 30 November 2005. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  13. ↑ "Uzbekistan's Server Djeparov wins AFC Player of the Year award". Goal. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  14. ↑ "Qatari teenager Ibrahim named Asian Player of the Year". ChinaDaily.com. Reuters. 30 November 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  15. ↑ "UPDATE 1-Soccer-Yasser Al Qahtani named Asian Player of the Year". Reuters. 28 November 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  16. ↑ "Shamsaei Wins Best Asian Futsal Player Award". FutsalWire.com. 25 November 2008. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  17. ↑ "Japan's Yasuhito Endo Named AFC Player Of The Year". Goal. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  18. ↑ "AFC Player Of The Year Profiles: Bader Al Mutawa, Farhad Majidi, Farshid Talebi, Sasa Ognenovski, Husain Salman". Goal. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  19. ↑ "AFC Player of the Year: Lee Keun-ho". AFC. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  20. ↑ "Zheng Zhi is first Chinese to win AFC Player of the Year award in decade". South China Morning Post. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  21. ↑ "AFC Player of the Year: Nassir Al Shamrani". AFC. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  22. ↑ "AFC Awards: Ahmed Khalil wins Player of the Year award". Sportstar. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  23. ↑ "Al Ain's Omar Abdulrahman named AFC Player of the Year". ESPN. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  24. ↑ "Prolific Syrian Khrbin wins AFC Player of the Year award". NST.com.my. AFP. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  25. ↑ "Qatar's Abdelkarim Hassan is AFC Player of the Year". Gulf Times. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  26. ↑ "Player of the Year - Men and Women nominees". AFC. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  27. ↑ "AFC Player of the Year 2022: Salem Al Dawsari". AFC. 31 October 2023.
  28. ↑ "Manchester United playmaker Shinji Kagawa wins inaugural Asian Player of the Year award". The Independent. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  29. ↑ "AFC Asian International Player of the Year:Yuto Nagatomo". AFC. 26 November 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  30. ↑ "Gyan and Jedinak land AFC awards". AFC. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  31. ↑ "AFC Asian International Player of the Year 2015: Son Heung-min". AFC. 29 November 2015. Archived from the original on 2 December 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  32. ↑ "AFC Asian International Player of the Year 2016: Shinji Okazaki". AFC. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  33. ↑ Kin Fai, Ooi (29 November 2017). "Son Heung-Min wins 2017 AFC Asian International Player of the Year". Goal.
  34. ↑ "AFC Asian International Player of the Year 2018: Makoto Hasebe". AFC. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  35. ↑ "AFC Asian International Player of the Year 2019: Son Heung-min". AFC. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  36. ↑ "AFC Annual Awards Hong Kong 2019 nominees revealed". AFC. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  37. ↑ "AFC Asian International Player of the Year 2022: Kim Min-jae". AFC. 1 November 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  38. ↑ "Asia's Footballer 1991". IFFHS. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  39. ↑ "Asia's Footballer 1992". IFFHS. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  40. ↑ "The Best Man Player in AFC 2020 by IFFHS : Heung Min Son (South Korea/Tottenham Hotspurs)". IFFHS. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  41. ↑ "IFFHS MEN'S CONTINENTAL AWARDS 2021 - AFC". IFFHS. 17 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  42. ↑ "IFFHS MEN'S CONTINENTAL BEST PLAYERS 2022 - AFC". IFFHS. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
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