The 2016 Best Footballer in Asia, given to the best football player in Asia as judged by a panel of 38 sports journalists, was awarded to Shinji Okazaki on 26 December 2016.
The prize witnessed the first significant enlargement of the panel of jurors since its birth. There were 38 jurors in the panel. 33 jurors were from different AFC nations/regions including Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Cambodia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Korea Republic, Kuwait, Lebanon, Macao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Arabic Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Five jurors were invited from non-AFC media outlets.[1]
Each juror selects 5 best footballers and awards them 5, 4, 3, 2 points and 1 point respectively from their first choice to the fifth choice. The trophy of the Best Footballer in Asia is awarded to the player with the highest total of points.[2]
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.
| Rank | Name | Club(s) | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Shinji Okazaki | Leicester City | 126 | |
| 2 | Al-Ain | 123 | ||
| 3 | 109 | |||
| 4 | 46 | |||
| 5 | 34 | |||
| 6 | 30 | |||
| 7 | 16 | |||
| 8 | 15 | |||
| 9 | 13 | |||
| 10 | 11 | |||
| 11 | 10 | |||
| 12 | 7 | |||
| 13 | 6 | |||
| 14 | 5 | |||
| 15 | 5 | |||
 Muangthong United | ||||
| 17 | 4 | |||
| 18 | 2 | |||
| 19 | 2 | |||
| 20 | 1 |