Asia’s Star Repeats: Salem Al-Dawsari Clinches Best Player of 2025 Once Again
16 October 2025
Asia’s Best Player Award 2025: Salem Al-Dawsari Claims the Crown
Salem Al-Dawsari, captain of Al Hilal and the Saudi national team, has been named the Asian Player of the Year for 2025, earning the honor for the second time.
At the King Fahd Cultural Center in Riyadh, the Best of Asia 2025 ceremony celebrated twenty categories and crowned the continent’s top talents.
Al-Dawsari defeated Akram Afif of Al Sadd and Arif Aiman of Johor Darul Ta’azim to take the award, joining a select group of players who have won it twice.
Last season he delivered standout numbers: 27 goals in 51 appearances with 18 assists for Al Hilal, making him one of the league’s most prolific contributors.
He was among the league’s leaders in combined goals and assists, totaling 30 contributions (15 goals, 15 assists), cementing his status as the top creator in the Saudi Pro League.
In Asia, Al-Dawsari topped the AFC Champions League Elite scoring chart with 10 goals, even as his team exited in the semi-finals to Al Ahli.
He also contributed to a 2-0 win over Pachuca in the FIFA Club World Cup group stage, helping his team advance to the knockout rounds before an injury sidelined him from later matches.
Afif enjoyed a historic season himself, with 23 goals and 22 assists for Sado?—the text notes Afif’s strong numbers—while Arif Aiman helped Johor Darul Ta’zim to domestic success as well.
Al-Dawsari’s triumph marks a milestone for Saudi football, as he becomes the first Saudi to win Asia’s best player twice and the fourth player overall to achieve the feat after Afif (2019, 2023) and Hidetoshi Nakata (1997, 1998) and Server Djibarov (2008, 2011).
Off the field, Al-Dawsari praised his teammates and supporters and expressed hope to build on this success toward 2026 and beyond.
Punchlines to keep the crowd entertained: Punchline 1: If scoring were an Olympic sport, he’d be the torch bearer. Punchline 2: They gave him a trophy; the trophy now has a fan club called “Al-Dawsari’s Crew.”
