The Asian Footballer of the Year award is an annual prize 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. However, it was not a selection of clear process or official organization, and is generally excluded from the list. 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.
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. 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.
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.
Winners
IFFHS award
The IFFHS Asian Player 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, and was revived when the AFC award was halted between 2020 and 2022.
YearRankPlayerTeamPointsRef.1988 1st Ahmed Radhi Al-Rasheed26 2nd Kim Joo-sung Daewoo Royals16 3rd Majed Abdullah Al Nassr141989 1st Kim Joo-sung Daewoo Royals38 2nd Majed Abdullah Al Nassr12 3rd Ahmed Radhi Al-Rasheed61990 1st Kim Joo-sung Daewoo Royals36 2nd Farshad Pious Persepolis28 3rd Adnan Al-Talyani Al-Shaab161991 1st Kim Joo-sung Daewoo Royals31 2nd Chung Yong-hwan Daewoo Royals28 3rd Samad Marfavi Esteghlal161992 1st Kazuyoshi Miura Verdy Kawasaki30 2nd Fahad Al-Bishi Al Nassr17 3rd Mehdi Fonounizadeh Esteghlal13Not awarded from 1993 to 20192020 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur— — Sardar Azmoun Zenit Saint Petersburg Takumi Minamino Liverpool2021 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur—2022 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur—
AFC award
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.
YearRankPlayerTeamRef.1994 1st Saeed Owairan Al Shabab1995 1st Masami Ihara Yokohama Marinos1996 1st Khodadad Azizi Bahman — Ali Daei Al Sadd Ko Jeong-woon Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma Mohamed Al-Deayea Al-Tai Yousuf Al-Thunayan Al Hilal1997 1st Hidetoshi Nakata Shonan Bellmare — Choi Yong-soo Sangmu FC Karim Bagheri Arminia Bielefeld Khodadad Azizi 1. FC Köln1998 1st Hidetoshi Nakata Perugia — Ali Daei Bayern Munich Fan Zhiyi Crystal Palace Jasem Al Huwaidi Al-Salmiya1999 1st Ali Daei Hertha BSC — Bashar Abdullah Al-Salmiya Hidetoshi Nakata Perugia Hwang Sun-hong Cerezo Osaka Masashi Nakayama Júbilo Iwata Sun Wen Shanghai SVA2000 1st Nawaf Al-Temyat Al Hilal — Hiroshi Nanami Júbilo Iwata Lee Dong-gook Pohang Steelers Ryuzo Morioka Shimizu S-Pulse2001 1st Fan Zhiyi Dundee — Abdullah Al-Shehan Al Shabab Ali Karimi Al Ahli Li Tie Liaoning Fushun Tegang Mirjalol Qosimov Krylia Sovetov Samara2002 1st Shinji Ono Feyenoord — Ahn Jung-hwan Perugia Junichi Inamoto Fulham Li Tie Everton2003 1st Mehdi Mahdavikia Hamburger SV — Maxim Shatskikh Dynamo Kyiv Therdsak Chaiman BEC Tero Sasana2004 1st Ali Karimi Al Ahli — A'ala Hubail Al-Ahli Shunsuke Nakamura Reggina2005 1st Hamad Al-Montashari Al-Ittihad 2nd Maxim Shatskikh Dynamo Kyiv2006 1st Khalfan Ibrahim Al Sadd — Bader Al-Mutawa Qadsia Mohammad Al-Shalhoub Al Hilal2007 1st Yasser Al-Qahtani Al Hilal — Nashat Akram Al Ain Younis Mahmoud Al-Gharafa2008 1st Server Djeparov Bunyodkor — Ismail Matar Al Wahda Sebastián Soria Qatar SC Yasuhito Endō Gamba Osaka Yuji Nakazawa Yokohama F. Marinos2009 1st Yasuhito Endō Gamba Osaka 2nd Kengo Nakamura Kawasaki Frontale Sayed Mohamed Adnan Al-Khor2010 1st Saša Ognenovski Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma — Bader Al-Mutawa Qadsia Farhad Majidi Esteghlal Farshid Talebi Zob Ahan Hussain Salman Al-Riffa2011 1st Server Djeparov Al Shabab 2nd Hadi Aghily Al-Arabi2012 1st Lee Keun-ho Ulsan Hyundai— Ali Karimi Persepolis Zheng Zhi Guangzhou Evergrande2013 1st Zheng Zhi Guangzhou Evergrande — Ha Dae-sung FC Seoul Javad Nekounam Esteghlal2014 1st Nasser Al-Shamrani Al Hilal — Ismail Ahmed Al Ain Khalfan Ibrahim Al Sadd2015 1st Ahmed Khalil Al Ahli — Omar Abdulrahman Al Ain Zheng Zhi Guangzhou Evergrande2016 1st Omar Abdulrahman Al Ain — Hammadi Ahmed Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Wu Lei Shanghai SIPG2017 1st Omar Kharbin Al Hilal— Omar Abdulrahman Al Ain Wu Lei Shanghai SIPG2018 1st Abdelkarim Hassan Al Sadd — Kento Misao Kashima Antlers Yuma Suzuki Kashima Antlers2019 1st Akram Afif Al Sadd— Alireza Beiranvand Persepolis Tomoaki Makino Urawa Red Diamonds 2020 Not awarded 2021 Not awarded2022 1st Salem Al-Dawsari Al Hilal— Almoez Ali Al-Duhail Mathew Leckie Melbourne City2023 1st Akram Afif Al Sadd— Seol Young-woo Ulsan HD Yazan Al-Naimat Al Ahli 2024 Not awarded 2025 1st Salem Al-Dawsari Al Hilal — Akram Afif Al Sadd Arif Aiman Johor Darul Ta'zim
AFC award (international)
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.
YearRankPlayerTeamRef.2012 1st Shinji Kagawa Manchester United — Mark Schwarzer Fulham Yuto Nagatomo Internazionale2013 1st Yuto Nagatomo Internazionale — Keisuke Honda CSKA Moscow Son Heung-min Bayer Leverkusen2014 1st Mile Jedinak Crystal Palace — Ki Sung-yueng Swansea City Tim Cahill New York Red Bulls2015 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur — Ki Sung-yueng Swansea City Massimo Luongo Queens Park Rangers2016 1st Shinji Okazaki Leicester City — Shinji Kagawa Borussia Dortmund Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur2017 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur — Aaron Mooy Huddersfield Town Shinji Kagawa Borussia Dortmund2018 1st Makoto Hasebe Eintracht Frankfurt2019 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur — Makoto Hasebe Eintracht Frankfurt Sardar Azmoun Zenit Saint Petersburg 2020 Not awarded 2021 Not awarded2022 1st Kim Min-jae Napoli — Kaoru Mitoma Brighton & Hove Albion Mehdi Taremi Porto2023 1st Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur — Mehdi Taremi Porto Musa Al-Taamari Montpellier 2024 Not awarded 2025 1st Lee Kang-in Paris Saint-Germain — Mehdi Taremi Olympiacos Takefusa Kubo Real Sociedad
Statistics Wins by player The IFFHS award is marked with an asterisk (*). Player Wins Years won Son Heung-min7 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020*, 2021*, 2022*, 2023 Kim Joo-sung 3 1989*, 1990*, 1991* Hidetoshi Nakata 2 1997, 1998 Server Djeparov2 2008, 2011 Akram Afif2 2019, 2023 Salem Al-Dawsari2 2022, 2025 Ahmed Radhi1 1988* Kazuyoshi Miura1 1992* Saeed Owairan1 1994 Masami Ihara1 1995 Khodadad Azizi1 1996 Ali Daei1 1999 Nawaf Al-Temyat1 2000 Fan Zhiyi1 2001 Shinji Ono1 2002 Mehdi Mahdavikia1 2003 Ali Karimi1 2004 Hamad Al-Montashari1 2005 Khalfan Ibrahim1 2006 Yasser Al-Qahtani1 2007 Yasuhito Endō1 2009 Sasa Ognenovski1 2010 Lee Keun-ho1 2012 Shinji Kagawa1 2012 Yuto Nagatomo1 2013 Zheng Zhi1 2013 Mile Jedinak1 2014 Nasser Al-Shamrani1 2014 Ahmed Khalil1 2015 Omar Abdulrahman1 2016 Shinji Okazaki1 2016 Omar Kharbin1 2017 Abdelkarim Hassan1 2018 Makoto Hasebe1 2018 Kim Min-jae1 2022 Lee Kang-in1 2025
Wins by nationality Country Wins Players 13 5 10 9 7 6 4 4 4 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1
See also Best Footballer in Asia International Federation of Football History & Statistics Asian Football Confederation AFC Annual Awards
Notes
References
External links Asian Player of the Year at RSSSF