Best Footballer in Asia () is an annual association football award organized and presented by Titan Sports. It is awarded to the player who had the best performance for Asian football during the previous calendar year.

History 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. 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.

Eligibility The prize is open to all footballers who participate Asian football, by playing for national teams or clubs affiliated to Asian Football Confederation during the targeted calendar year.

In detail, three categories of players are eligible to be nominated as candidates of the prize.

a) Footballers who have nationality/citizenship of nations/regions corresponding to national associations affiliated to AFC, and play for football clubs affiliated to AFC. (e.g. Omar Abdulrahman, the UAE footballer playing for Al Ain won the second place in Best Footballer in Asia 2016)

b) Footballers who play for non-AFC clubs, and are eligible to play FIFA 'A' matches during the targeted year representing national teams (either senior level or any junior level) of national associations affiliated to AFC. (e.g. Son Heung-min, who played in European leagues and Korea Republic national football team, is the record Best Footballer in Asia winner).

c) Footballers who are not citizens of nations/regions corresponding to national associations affiliated to AFC, and play for football clubs of national associations affiliated to AFC. (e.g. Elkeson, the Brazilian striker who played for Guangzhou Evergrande won the second place of the inaugural Best Footballer in Asia)

Voting The juror team is constituted by a panel of journalists, invited from AFC nations/regions and non-AFC media outlets. Each juror contributes one vote.

Rules Each juror selects 5 best footballers and awards them 6, 4, 3, 2 points and 1 point respectively from their first choice to the fifth choice (Before 2017, the first-choice was awarded 5 points rather than 6). The trophy of the Best Footballer in Asia is awarded to the player with the highest total of points. Since 2017, the first-choice player in each vote will be awarded 6 points while the other 4 choices will still be awarded 4, 3, 2 points and 1 point respectively according to their ranking in each vote.

Tiebreakers When two or more candidates obtain the same points, the rankings of the concerned candidates would be based upon the following criteria in order.

a) The number of the 1st-place vote obtained

b) The number of the 2nd-place vote obtained

c) The number of the 3rd-place vote obtained

d) The number of the 4th-place vote obtained

If all conditions are equal, the concerned candidates will be tied in rankings.

If the concerned candidates are tied in the first-place, the concerned candidates will share the award and the trophy.

Winners

YearRankPlayerClub2013 1st Keisuke Honda CSKA Moscow4613.9% 2nd Elkeson Guangzhou Evergrande329.7% 3rd Darío Conca Guangzhou Evergrande329.7%2014 1st Son Heung-min Bayer Leverkusen7420.6% 2nd Keisuke Honda Milan5615.6% 3rd Ante Covic Western Sydney Wanderers3710.3%2015 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur4916.3% 2nd Zheng Zhi Guangzhou Evergrande3210.7% 3rd Ricardo Goulart Guangzhou Evergrande3210.7%2016 1st Shinji Okazaki Leicester City12622.1% 2nd Omar Abdulrahman Al Ain12321.6% 3rd Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur10919.1%2017 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur15723.4% 2nd Omar Kharbin Al Hilal12718.9% 3rd Rafael Silva Urawa Red Diamonds578.5%2018 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur20629.3% 2nd Makoto Hasebe Eintracht Frankfurt649.1% 3rd Alireza Beiranvand Persepolis507.1%2019 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur25831.6% 2nd Akram Afif Al Sadd11414.0% 3rd Takumi Minamino Red Bull Salzburg9011.0%2020 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur28635.0% 2nd Sardar Azmoun Zenit Saint Petersburg8910.9% 3rd Júnior Negrão Ulsan Hyundai8310.2%2021 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur24230.3% 2nd Sardar Azmoun Zenit Saint Petersburg11113.9% 3rd Mehdi Taremi Porto9011.3%2022 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur25626.7% 2nd Mehdi Taremi Porto12012.5% 3rd Salem Al-Dawsari Al Hilal11211.7%2023 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur23122.9% 2nd Kim Min-jae Bayern Munich19719.5% 3rd Cristiano Ronaldo Al Nassr17217.1%2024 1st Akram Afif Al Sadd18118.0% 2nd Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur16816.7% 3rd Soufiane Rahimi Al Ain11511.4%2025 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur14614.3% 2nd Lee Kang-in Paris Saint-Germain10510.3% 3rd Cristiano Ronaldo Al Nassr918.9%

Statistics Wins by player Player Wins 2nd 3rd Son Heung-min 10 1 1 Akram Afif 1 1 0 Keisuke Honda 1 1 0 Shinji Okazaki 1 0 0

Wins by nationality Nation Wins 2nd 3rd 10 3 1 2 2 1 1 1 0

See also Asian Footballer of the Year

Notes

References