Best Footballer in Asia 2022

The Best Footballer in Asia 2022, recognizing the best male footballer in Asia in 2022, was the 10th edition of the Best Footballer in Asia. Son Heung-min claimed the award on 6 February 2023. It was his sixth Best Footballer in Asia title in a row, and eighth title overall. The event was judged by a panel of sixty sports journalists. Son received thirty first-place votes, fifteen second-place votes, two third-place votes, four fourth-place votes, five fifth-place votes and finished on 256 points in total.

Voting

60 judges were invited to vote, including 40 representatives from AFC nations/regions which comprise Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, 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

Source:^[1]

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Points
1	Son Heung-min	Tottenham Hotspur	256
2	Mehdi Taremi	Porto	120
3	Salem Al-Dawsari	Al-Hilal	112
4	Kim Min-jae	Fenerbahçe Napoli	99
5	Kaoru Mitoma	Union Saint-Gilloise Brighton & Hove Albion	91
6	Daichi Kamada	Eintracht Frankfurt	68
7	Ritsu Dōan	PSV Eindhoven SC Freiburg	47
8	Takehiro Tomiyasu	Arsenal	37
9	Theerathon Bunmathan	Buriram United	21
10	Wataru Endo	VfB Stuttgart	18
11	Kyogo Furuhashi	Celtic	14
12	Mohamed Kanno	Al-Hilal	12
13	Michael Olunga	Al-Duhail	6
14	Eldor Shomurodov	Roma	6
15	Cho Gue-sung	Gimcheon Sangmu Jeonbuk Hyundai	6
16	Matthew Leckie	Melbourne City	5
17	Saeid Ezatolahi	Al-Garafa Vejle	4
	Ikhsan Fandi	BG Pathum United
	Craig Goodwin	Adelaide United
	Jung Woo-Young	Al-Sadd
	Jamie Maclaren	Melbourne City
22	Odion Ighalo	Al-Hilal	4
23	Sardar Azmoun	Bayer Leverkusen	3
24	Saud Abdulhamid	Al-Hilal	3
24	Kim Young-gwon	Ulsan Hyundai	3
26	Reo Hatate	Celtic	2
26	Maya Yoshida	Sampdoria Schalke 04	2
28	Daizen Maeda	Celtic	2
29	Nguyen Tien Linh^[2]	Becamex Binh Duong	1
	Akihiro Ienaga	Kawasaki Frontale
	Mohammed Al-Owais	Al-Hilal

References

^ "Son Heung-min gana su sexto Mejor Jugador de Asia seguido". Marca (in Spanish). 6 February 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
^ Luong, Hieu (2 February 2023). "Vietnamese star striker among nominations for best footballer in Asia". VnExpress International – Latest news, business, travel and analysis from Vietnam. Retrieved 5 February 2023.

[1] "Son Heung-min gana su sexto Mejor Jugador de Asia seguido". Marca (in Spanish). 6 February 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.

[Luong_2023-2] Luong, Hieu (2 February 2023). "Vietnamese star striker among nominations for best footballer in Asia". VnExpress International – Latest news, business, travel and analysis from Vietnam. Retrieved 5 February 2023.

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