Best Footballer in Asia 2023

The Best Footballer in Asia 2023, recognizing the best male footballer in Asia in 2023, was the 11th edition of the Best Footballer in Asia. Son Heung-min claimed the award on 15 January 2024. It was his seventh Best Footballer in Asia title in a row, and eighth title overall. The event was judged by a panel of sixty-three sports journalists. Son received 17 first-place votes, 24 second-place votes, 7 third-place votes, 5 fourth-place votes, 2 fifth-place votes and finished on 231 points in total.

Voting

63 judges were invited to vote, including 42 representatives from AFC nations/regions which comprise Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Chinese Taipei, Guam，Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Laos，Korea Republic, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Macao, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Arabic Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen. The other twenty jurors were independent Asian football experts or from high-profile media outlets. Before voting, all judges were given a 25-player shortlist, but could choose other eligible players.

Rules

Each juror selected their five best footballers and awarded them five, four, three, two and one point respectively from their first choice to the fifth choice. A trophy for the Best Footballer in Asia was awarded to the player with the highest total of points.

Tiebreakers

When two or more candidates obtained the same points, the rankings of the concerned candidates was based upon the following criteria in order:

• a) The number of first-place vote obtained
• b) The number of second-place vote obtained
• c) The number of third-place vote obtained
• d) The number of fourth-place vote obtained

If all conditions were equal, the concerned candidates tied.

If the concerned candidates were tied for first place, the award and the trophy were shared.

Ranking

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Points
1	Son Heung-min	Tottenham Hotspur	231
2	Sheikh Morsalin	Bashundhara	197
3	Cristiano Ronaldo	Al Nassr	172
4	Kaoru Mitoma	Brighton & Hove Albion	101
5	Mehdi Taremi	Porto	55
6	Takefusa Kubo	Real Sociedad	48
7	Salem Al-Dawsari	Al Hilal	42
8	Wataru Endo	VfB Stuttgart Liverpool	40
9	Hwang Hee-chan	Wolverhampton Wanderers	33
10	Lee Kang-in	Mallorca Paris Saint-Germain	14
11	Talisca	Al Nassr	13
12	Sardar Azmoun	Bayer Leverkusen Roma	8
13	Hiroki Sakai	Urawa Red Diamonds	8
14	Kyogo Furuhashi	Celtic	7
15	Takehiro Tomiyasu	Arsenal	7
16	Saud Abdulhamid	Al Hilal	6
17	Sunil Chhetri	Bengaluru	6
18	Jeong Woo-yeong	SC Freiburg VfB Stuttgart	4
19	Abderrazak Hamdallah	Al-Ittihad	3
	Michael Olunga	Al-Duhail
	Alexander Scholz	Urawa Red Diamonds
22	Yuya Osako	Vissel Kobe	2
23	Alireza Jahanbakhsh	Feyenoord	2
24	Theerathon Bunmathan	Buriram United	1
	Eldor Shomurodov	Spezia Cagliari
	Harry Souttar	Leicester City

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