# Asian Footballer of the Year

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, but was revived in 2020.
| Year | Rank | Player | Team | Points |
| 1988 | 1st | Ahmed Radhi | Al-Rasheed | 26 |
| 1988 | 2nd | Kim Joo-sung | Daewoo Royals | 16 |
| 1988 | 3rd | Majed Abdullah | Al Nassr | 14 |
| 1989 | 1st | Kim Joo-sung | Daewoo Royals | 38 |
| 1989 | 2nd | Majed Abdullah | Al Nassr | 12 |
| 1989 | 3rd | Ahmed Radhi | Al-Rasheed | 6 |
| 1990 | 1st | Kim Joo-sung | Daewoo Royals | 36 |
| 1990 | 2nd | Farshad Pious | Persepolis | 28 |
| 1990 | 3rd | Adnan Al-Talyani | Al-Shaab | 16 |
| 1991 | 1st | Kim Joo-sung | Daewoo Royals | 31 |
| 1991 | 2nd | Chung Yong-hwan | Daewoo Royals | 28 |
| 1991 | 3rd | Samad Marfavi | Esteghlal | 16 |
| 1992 | 1st | Kazuyoshi Miura | Verdy Kawasaki | 30 |
| 1992 | 2nd | Fahad Al-Bishi | Al Nassr | 17 |
| 1992 | 3rd | Mehdi Fonounizadeh | Esteghlal | 13 |
| Not awarded from 1993 to 2019 ||||||
| 2020 | 1st | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur | — |
| 2020 | — | Sardar Azmoun | Zenit Saint Petersburg | — |
| 2020 | — | Takumi Minamino | Liverpool | — |
| 2021 | 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.
| Year | Rank | Player | Team |
| 1994 | 1st | Saeed Owairan | Al Shabab |
| 1995 | 1st | Masami Ihara | Yokohama Marinos |
| 1996 | 1st | Khodadad Azizi | Bahman |
| 1996 | — | Ali Daei | Al Sadd |
| 1996 | — | Ko Jeong-woon | Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma |
| 1996 | — | Mohamed Al-Deayea | Al-Tai |
| 1996 | — | Yousuf Al-Thunayan | Al Hilal |
| 1997 | 1st | Hidetoshi Nakata | Shonan Bellmare |
| 1997 | — | Choi Yong-soo | Sangmu FC |
| 1997 | — | Karim Bagheri | Arminia Bielefeld |
| 1997 | — | Khodadad Azizi | 1. FC Köln |
| 1998 | 1st | Hidetoshi Nakata | Perugia |
| 1998 | — | Ali Daei | Bayern Munich |
| 1998 | — | Fan Zhiyi | Crystal Palace |
| 1998 | — | Jasem Al Huwaidi | Al-Salmiya |
| 1999 | 1st | Ali Daei | Hertha BSC |
| 1999 | — | Bashar Abdullah | Al-Salmiya |
| 1999 | — | Hidetoshi Nakata | Perugia |
| 1999 | — | Hwang Sun-hong | Cerezo Osaka |
| 1999 | — | Masashi Nakayama | Júbilo Iwata |
| 1999 | — | Sun Wen | Shanghai SVA |
| 2000 | 1st | Nawaf Al-Temyat | Al Hilal |
| 2000 | — | Hiroshi Nanami | Júbilo Iwata |
| 2000 | — | Lee Dong-gook | Pohang Steelers |
| 2000 | — | Ryuzo Morioka | Shimizu S-Pulse |
| 2001 | 1st | Fan Zhiyi | Dundee |
| 2001 | — | Abdullah Al-Shehan | Al Shabab |
| 2001 | — | Ali Karimi | Al Ahli |
| 2001 | — | Li Tie | Liaoning Fushun Tegang |
| 2001 | — | Mirjalol Qosimov | Krylia Sovetov Samara |
| 2002 | 1st | Shinji Ono | Feyenoord |
| 2002 | — | Ahn Jung-hwan | Perugia |
| 2002 | — | Junichi Inamoto | Fulham |
| 2002 | — | Li Tie | Everton |
| 2003 | 1st | Mehdi Mahdavikia | Hamburger SV |
| 2003 | — | Maxim Shatskikh | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 2003 | — | Therdsak Chaiman | BEC Tero Sasana |
| 2004 | 1st | Ali Karimi | Al Ahli |
| 2004 | — | A'ala Hubail | Al-Ahli |
| 2004 | — | Shunsuke Nakamura | Reggina |
| 2005 | 1st | Hamad Al-Montashari | Al-Ittihad |
| 2005 | 2nd | Maxim Shatskikh | Dynamo Kyiv |
| 2006 | 1st | Khalfan Ibrahim | Al Sadd |
| 2006 | — | Bader Al-Mutawa | Qadsia |
| 2006 | — | Mohammad Al-Shalhoub | Al Hilal |
| 2007 | 1st | Yasser Al-Qahtani | Al Hilal |
| 2007 | — | Nashat Akram | Al Ain |
| 2007 | — | Younis Mahmoud | Al-Gharafa |
| 2008 | 1st | Server Djeparov | Bunyodkor |
| 2008 | — | Ismail Matar | Al Wahda |
| 2008 | — | Sebastián Soria | Qatar SC |
| 2008 | — | Yasuhito Endō | Gamba Osaka |
| 2008 | — | Yuji Nakazawa | Yokohama F. Marinos |
| 2009 | 1st | Yasuhito Endō | Gamba Osaka |
| 2009 | 2nd | Kengo Nakamura | Kawasaki Frontale |
| 2009 | 2nd | Sayed Mohamed Adnan | Al-Khor |
| 2010 | 1st | Saša Ognenovski | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma |
| 2010 | — | Bader Al-Mutawa | Qadsia |
| 2010 | — | Farhad Majidi | Esteghlal |
| 2010 | — | Farshid Talebi | Zob Ahan |
| 2010 | — | Hussain Salman | Al-Riffa |
| 2011 | 1st | Server Djeparov | Al Shabab |
| 2011 | 2nd | Hadi Aghily | Al-Arabi |
| 2012 | 1st | Lee Keun-ho | Ulsan Hyundai |
| 2012 | — | Ali Karimi | Persepolis |
| 2012 | — | Zheng Zhi | Guangzhou Evergrande |
| 2013 | 1st | Zheng Zhi | Guangzhou Evergrande |
| 2013 | — | Ha Dae-sung | FC Seoul |
| 2013 | — | Javad Nekounam | Esteghlal |
| 2014 | 1st | Nasser Al-Shamrani | Al Hilal |
| 2014 | — | Ismail Ahmed | Al Ain |
| 2014 | — | Khalfan Ibrahim | Al Sadd |
| 2015 | 1st | Ahmed Khalil | Al Ahli |
| 2015 | — | Omar Abdulrahman | Al Ain |
| 2015 | — | Zheng Zhi | Guangzhou Evergrande |
| 2016 | 1st | Omar Abdulrahman | Al Ain |
| 2016 | — | Hammadi Ahmed | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
| 2016 | — | Wu Lei | Shanghai SIPG |
| 2017 | 1st | Omar Kharbin | Al Hilal |
| 2017 | — | Omar Abdulrahman | Al Ain |
| 2017 | — | Wu Lei | Shanghai SIPG |
| 2018 | 1st | Abdelkarim Hassan | Al Sadd |
| 2018 | — | Kento Misao | Kashima Antlers |
| 2018 | — | Yuma Suzuki | Kashima Antlers |
| 2019 | 1st | Akram Afif | Al Sadd |
| 2019 | — | Alireza Beiranvand | Persepolis |
| 2019 | — | Tomoaki Makino | Urawa Red Diamonds |
| Not awarded from 2020 to 2021 |||||
| 2022 | 1st | Salem Al-Dawsari | Al Hilal |
| 2022 | — | Almoez Ali | Al-Duhail |
| 2022 | — | Mathew Leckie | Melbourne City |
| 2023 | 1st | Akram Afif | Al Sadd |
| 2023 | — | Seol Young-woo | Ulsan HD |
| 2023 | — | Yazan Al-Naimat | Al Ahli |

### 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.
| Year | Rank | Player | Team |
| 2012 | 1st | Shinji Kagawa | Manchester United |
| 2012 | — | Mark Schwarzer | Fulham |
| 2012 | — | Yuto Nagatomo | Internazionale |
| 2013 | 1st | Yuto Nagatomo | Internazionale |
| 2013 | — | Keisuke Honda | CSKA Moscow |
| 2013 | — | Son Heung-min | Bayer Leverkusen |
| 2014 | 1st | Mile Jedinak | Crystal Palace |
| 2014 | — | Ki Sung-yueng | Swansea City |
| 2014 | — | Tim Cahill | New York Red Bulls |
| 2015 | 1st | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 2015 | — | Ki Sung-yueng | Swansea City |
| 2015 | — | Massimo Luongo | Queens Park Rangers |
| 2016 | 1st | Shinji Okazaki | Leicester City |
| 2016 | — | Shinji Kagawa | Borussia Dortmund |
| 2016 | — | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 2017 | 1st | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 2017 | — | Aaron Mooy | Huddersfield Town |
| 2017 | — | Shinji Kagawa | Borussia Dortmund |
| 2018 | 1st | Makoto Hasebe | Eintracht Frankfurt |
| 2019 | 1st | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 2019 | — | Makoto Hasebe | Eintracht Frankfurt |
| 2019 | — | Sardar Azmoun | Zenit Saint Petersburg |
| Not awarded from 2020 to 2021 |||||
| 2022 | 1st | Kim Min-jae | Napoli |
| 2022 | — | Kaoru Mitoma | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| 2022 | — | Mehdi Taremi | Porto |
| 2023 | 1st | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 2023 | — | Mehdi Taremi | Porto |
| 2023 | — | Musa Al-Taamari | Montpellier |

## Statistics
### Wins by player

| Player | Wins | Years won |
| Son Heung-min | 7 | 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 |
| Kim Joo-sung | 3 | 1989, 1990, 1991 |
| Hidetoshi Nakata | 2 | 1997, 1998 |
| Server Djeparov | 2 | 2008, 2011 |
| Akram Afif | 2 | 2019, 2023 |
| Ahmed Radhi | 1 | 1988 |
| Kazuyoshi Miura | 1 | 1992 |
| Saeed Owairan | 1 | 1994 |
| Masami Ihara | 1 | 1995 |
| Khodadad Azizi | 1 | 1996 |
| Ali Daei | 1 | 1999 |
| Nawaf Al-Temyat | 1 | 2000 |
| Fan Zhiyi | 1 | 2001 |
| Shinji Ono | 1 | 2002 |
| Mehdi Mahdavikia | 1 | 2003 |
| Ali Karimi | 1 | 2004 |
| Hamad Al-Montashari | 1 | 2005 |
| Khalfan Ibrahim | 1 | 2006 |
| Yasser Al-Qahtani | 1 | 2007 |
| Yasuhito Endō | 1 | 2009 |
| Sasa Ognenovski | 1 | 2010 |
| Lee Keun-ho | 1 | 2012 |
| Shinji Kagawa | 1 | 2012 |
| Yuto Nagatomo | 1 | 2013 |
| Zheng Zhi | 1 | 2013 |
| Mile Jedinak | 1 | 2014 |
| Nasser Al-Shamrani | 1 | 2014 |
| Ahmed Khalil | 1 | 2015 |
| Omar Abdulrahman | 1 | 2016 |
| Shinji Okazaki | 1 | 2016 |
| Omar Kharbin | 1 | 2017 |
| Abdelkarim Hassan | 1 | 2018 |
| Makoto Hasebe | 1 | 2018 |
| Kim Min-jae | 1 | 2022 |
| Salem Al-Dawsari | 1 | 2022 |

### Wins by nationality

| Country | Wins |
| South Korea | 12 |
| Japan | 10 |
| Saudi Arabia | 6 |
| Iran | 4 |
| Qatar | 4 |
| Australia | 2 |
| China | 2 |
| United Arab Emirates | 2 |
| Uzbekistan | 2 |
| Iraq | 1 |
| Syria | 1 |