Al Sadd star Akram Afif finished second in the race for the 2025 AFC Player of the Year Award during the Asian Football Confederation’s annual awards ceremony, held on Thursday, October 16, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Salem Al-Dawsari of Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) won the AFC Player of the Year award.
Afif had previously won the prestigious title twice, in 2019 and 2023.
This year, he was shortlisted alongside Salem Al-Dawsari and Arif Aiman of Johor Darul Ta’zim (Malaysia).
Afif continued his remarkable form throughout the 2024–25 football season, delivering standout performances for both Al Sadd and the Qatar national team. His consistent excellence reaffirmed his immense technical value and further cemented his name in gold letters as one of the finest and most influential players in both Asian and Qatari football history.
