Best Footballer in Asia should not be confused with Asian Footballer of the Year.
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.
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.[1] 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.
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.[2]
In detail, three categories of players are eligible to be nominated as candidates of the prize.
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.[3]
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.[4]
When two or more candidates obtain the same points, the rankings of the concerned candidates would be based upon the following criteria in order.
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.
| Year | Rank | Player | Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | scope=col style="background-color: gold" | 1st |  Keisuke Honda | CSKA Moscow | 46 | 13.9% |
| scope=col style="background-color: silver" | 2nd |  Elkeson |  Guangzhou Evergrande | 32 | 9.7% | |
| scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" | 3rd |  Darío Conca | Guangzhou Evergrande | 32 | 9.7% | |
| 2014 | scope=col style="background-color: gold" | 1st | Son Heung-min |  Bayer Leverkusen | 74 | 20.6% |
| scope=col style="background-color: silver" | 2nd | Keisuke Honda |  Milan | 56 | 15.6% | |
| scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" | 3rd |  Ante Covic | Western Sydney Wanderers | 37 | 10.3% | |
| 2015 | scope=col style="background-color: gold" | 1st | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur | 49 | 16.3% |
| scope=col style="background-color: silver" | 2nd | Zheng Zhi | Guangzhou Evergrande | 32 | 10.7% | |
| scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" | 3rd | Ricardo Goulart | Guangzhou Evergrande | 32 | 10.7% | |
| 2016 | scope=col style="background-color: gold" | 1st | Shinji Okazaki | Leicester City | 126 | 22.1% |
| scope=col style="background-color: silver" | 2nd | Omar Abdulrahman | Al-Ain | 123 | 21.6% | |
| scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" | 3rd | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur | 109 | 19.1% | |
| 2017 | scope=col style="background-color: gold" | 1st | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur | 157 | 23.4% |
| scope=col style="background-color: silver" | 2nd | Omar Kharbin |  Al-Hilal | 127 | 18.9% | |
| scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" | 3rd | Rafael Silva | Urawa Red Diamonds | 57 | 8.5% | |
| 2018 | scope=col style="background-color: gold" | 1st | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur | 206 | 29.3% |
| scope=col style="background-color: silver" | 2nd | Makoto Hasebe | Eintracht Frankfurt | 64 | 9.1% | |
| scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" | 3rd | Alireza Beiranvand | Persepolis | 50 | 7.1% | |
| 2019 | scope=col style="background-color: gold" | 1st | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur | 258 | 31.6% |
| scope=col style="background-color: silver" | 2nd |  Akram Afif | Al-Saad | 114 | 14.0% | |
| scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" | 3rd | Takumi Minamino |  Red Bull Salzburg | 90 | 11.0% | |
| 2020 | scope=col style="background-color: gold" | 1st | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur | 286 | 35.0% |
| scope=col style="background-color: silver" | 2nd | Sardar Azmoun | Zenit Saint Petersburg | 89 | 10.9% | |
| scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" | 3rd | Júnior Negrão | Ulsan Hyundai | 83 | 10.2% | |
| 2021 | scope=col style="background-color: gold" | 1st | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur | 242 | 30.3% |
| scope=col style="background-color: silver" | 2nd | Sardar Azmoun | Zenit Saint Petersburg | 111 | 13.9% | |
| scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" | 3rd | Mehdi Taremi |  Porto | 90 | 11.3% | |
| 2022 | scope=col style="background-color: gold" | 1st | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur | 256 | 26.7% |
| scope=col style="background-color: silver" | 2nd | Mehdi Taremi | Porto | 120 | 12.5% | |
| scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" | 3rd | Salem Al-Dawsari | Al-Hilal | 112 | 11.7% | |
| 2023 | scope=col style="background-color: gold" | 1st | Son Heung-min | Tottenham Hotspur | 231 | 22.9% |
| scope=col style="background-color: silver" | 2nd | Kim Min-jae | Bayern Munich | 197 | 19.5% | |
| scope=col style="background-color: #cc9966" | 3rd | Cristiano Ronaldo | Al-Nassr | 172 | 17.1% | |
| Player | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Keisuke Honda | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Shinji Okazaki | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Country | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 1 |