South Korea’s Son no longer best footballer in Asia as experts crown Akram Afif king
Group brought together by Chinese company Titan Sports end Tottenham star Son Heung-min’s seven-year stranglehold on title
Qatari Asian Cup hero Akram Afif has beaten Son Heung-min and Cristiano Ronaldo to the prize of Best Footballer in Asia for 2024.
Afif, the first player from West Asia to win the award since its inception in 2013, netted a hat-trick in Qatar’s 3-1 AFC Asian Cup final success against Jordan back in February.
The tournament’s top scorer with eight goals, he was also on target in his nation’s 3-2 semi-final victory Iran.
Afif’s unofficial crowning as the continent’s best player ends the seven-year reign of South Korean superstar Son, who claimed the honour in nine of its previous 11 editions.
The two players were separated by a hair’s breadth in the voting, with Afif claiming 18 per cent of the points available from a panel of 63 Asian football experts. Tottenham Hotspur forward Son received a 16.8 per cent share of the vote, while Soufiane Rahimi, who inspired Al Ain to 2023-24 AFC Asian Champions League glory, was third with 11.4 per cent of votes.
Ronaldo and Aleksandar Mitrovic, who have both been plundering goals in the Saudi Pro League, finished fourth and fifth in the poll, respectively.
