A key figure in Qatar’s Asian Cup defence at home and in Al Sadd’s triumphant league campaign, Afif will vie for his second AFC Player of the Year award.

Qatar’s star forward Akram Afif has been nominated for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s Player of the Year award, having previously won the title in 2019.

The 27-year-old forward finished with eight goals and three assists in Qatar’s successful AFC Asian Cup 2023 defence earlier this year, taking home the Most Valuable Player and Top Scorer Accolades.

Afif was also instrumental in Al Sadd’s 2023/24 Qatar Stars League campaign, helping the team reclaim the title with an impressive 26 goals and 11 assists in just 22 matches, and winning the league’s best player.

Jordan’s Yazan Al-Naimat and South Korea’s Seol Young-woo will vie with Afif for the award, which recognises the best player in an Asian club.

Al-Naimat’s run with the national team, which saw them reach the Asian Cup final for the first time, puts him as a strong candidate.

In that final, it was Afif’s hat-trick of penalties in the final that shattered Jordan’s hopes, after they had qualified after beating Young-woo’s Korea in the semis.

Afif previously won the AFC Player of the Year award in 2019, becoming only the third Qatari player to achieve this honour. His standout performances during that year contributed to Qatar’s successful Asian Cup campaign and Al Sadd’s title victory.

He joins the ranks of previous winners Khalfan Ibrahim and Abdelkarim Hassan, the latter being his longtime teammate in both club and national teams.

Other nominees

South Korea’s Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min will have to overcome Iran’s striker Mehdi Taremi, and Jordanian forward Mousa Al-Taamari to win his third consecutive AFC Men’s International Player of the Year.

Taremi currently plays for the Italian side Internazionale where as Al-Taamari represents Montpellier and was one of the AFC Asian Cup 2023’s stand-out players.

In the Women’s category, Australia’s Cortnee Vine, Japan’s Kiko Seike, and South Korea’s Kim Hye-ri are up against each other for the AFC Player of the Year award.

Similarly, Australian defender Ellie Carpenter, currently at France’s Lyon and Manchester City’s Japanese midfielder Yui Hasegawa will compete for the Asian International Player of the Year title.

The 28th edition of the AFC Annual Awards is scheduled to be held in the South Korean capital of Seoul for the first time on October 29.

Full list of nominees

AFC Player of the Year
Yazan Al Naimat (Al Ahli SC/Al Arabi SC and JOR)
Seol Young-woo (Ulsan HD/Crvena Zvezda and KOR)
Akram Afif (Al Sadd SC and QAT)

AFC Women’s Player of the Year
Cortnee Vine (Sydney FC/North Carolina Courage and AUS)
Kiko Seike (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies/Brighton Hove & Albion and JPN)
Kim Hye-ri (Hyundai Steel Red Angels and KOR)

AFC Asian International Player of the Year (Men)
Mehdi Taremi (FC Porto/Internazionale and IRN)
Mousa Al Tamari (Montpellier HSC and JOR)
Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur and KOR)

AFC Asian International Player of the Year (Women)
Ellie Carpenter (Olympique Lyonnais and AUS)
Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City and JPN)

AFC Coach of the Year (Men)
Graham Arnold (Australia and AUS)
Go Oiwa (Japan U23 and JPN)
Hwang Sun-hong (Korea Republic U23 and KOR)

AFC Coach of the Year (Women)
Leah Blayney (Australia Women U20 and AUS)
Tomomi Miyamoto (Japan Women and JPN)
Park Youn-jeong (Korea Republic Women U20 and KOR)