Riyadh: Asian icon Salem Al Dawsari was crowned the latest AFC Player of the Year on Thursday night in a milestone moment at the AFC Awards Riyadh 2025 presented by NEOM.
The Al Hilal SFC superstar became the first Saudi Arabian to win the prestigious accolade twice and the fourth to do so after Japan’s Hidetoshi Nakata (1997, 1998), Uzbekistan’s Server Djeparov (2008, 2011) and Qatar’s Akram Afif (2019, 2023).
Having claimed the prize in 2022, Al Dawsari’s triumph at the King Fahad Cultural Center also meant that Al Hilal and Saudi Arabia have produced the most recipients of any club (six) and Member Association (seven) respectively. He beat out Afif and Arif Aiman Hanapi, who was the first-ever Malaysian nominee.
Despite turning 34 in August, the Saudi Arabian great remains at the top of his game and one of the leading lights on the Continent after turning in a superb 2024/25 campaign.
With 10 goals in the AFC Champions League Elite™, Al Dawsari finished as the top scorer during Al Hilal’s run to the Semi-finals. Domestically, a return of 15 goals and 15 assists saw him pick up the Best Saudi Player trophy, while his assist tally was the joint-most in a single season and also saw him become the league’s all-time assist leader.
On the global stage, Al Dawsari was irrepressible as well. Captaining the club where he has spent his entire career to the last eight at the newly-expanded FIFA Club World Cup, the maestro’s strike in a 2-0 Group Stage win against CF Pachuca saw him surpass Tsukasa Shiotani as the top Asian scorer in tournament history with five goals.
Scorer of the stunning winner against Argentina in the Green Falcons’ historic win at the FIFA World Cup 2022, Al Dawsari recently surpassed a century of international appearances and can look forward to starring at the showpiece again next year after leading his country to a third consecutive edition just earlier this week.
