Son Heung-min loses Best Footballer in Asia award to Qatari star Afif

Son Heung-min reacts after missing a chance. Photo by AP

Son got 168 points, finishing behind Afif with 181. Following the South Korean captain are Rahimi (115 points) and Ronaldo (109). For Ronaldo, this is the second consecutive year that he was nominated for the award, after finishing third in 2023.

The Best Footballer in Asia award, established by Chinese magazine Titan Sports in 2013, recognizes the top players from national teams or clubs within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Since its inception, only three players had claimed the honor before 2024: Keisuke Honda in 2013, Shinji Okazaki in 2016, and Son in all other years.

Son holds the record with nine wins, a mark that will likely be challenging for any player to surpass in the future.

The award is determined by a panel of 63 experts, including 42 from the AFC and 21 international experts. Each judge ranks their top five players in order, assigning points as follows: the top player receives 6 points, the second 4 points, the third 3 points, the fourth 2 and the fifth 1. The player with the highest cumulative score is declared the winner.

This year, Afif became the first West Asian player to win the award, ending Son’s seven-year winning streak. Afif's standout performance at the 2024 Asian Cup, where he was the top scorer with 8 goals and was named player of the tournament contributed significantly to his triumph.

Afif narrowly edged out Son in the voting, securing 18% of the points available from the experts, while the Tottenham Hotspur star received 16.8%. Soufiane Rahimi, who led Al Ain to the 2023-24 AFC Champions League title, finished third with 11.4%, according to the South China Morning Post.

While 18 of the judges named Afif the best player in Asia, only 7 did the same for Ronaldo.

During the 2023-2024 season, the Al Nassr captain scored 44 goals in 45 matches but only secured one title, the Arab Club Champions Cup.