Saudi star Salem Al-Dawsari, player of Al-Hilal Club, won the Best Player in Asia award for 2025 during the ceremony held on Thursday evening at the King Fahd Cultural Center in Riyadh, attended by a selection of the continent's stars.

The ceremony was part of the 29th edition of the Asian Football Confederation Awards, hosted by Saudi Arabia for the first time under the slogan "Riyadh 2025", and the event honored winners in more than 20 different categories.

Al-Dawsari triumphed in the award race over Qatar's Akram Afif and Malaysia's Aref Ayman Hanbi, after a fierce competition among the three nominees for the continent's highest individual awards.

With this award, Salem Al-Dawsari became the first Saudi player in history to win the Best Asian Player award twice, and the fourth Asian player to achieve this feat after Nakata, Jebarov, and Afif.

Al-Dawsari had previously won the award for the first time in 2022, reaffirming his excellence thanks to his remarkable contributions to the Saudi national team and Al-Hilal, where he delivered outstanding performances in various local and continental tournaments.

This achievement comes weeks after Al-Dawsari led the "Green" team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, following a victory over Indonesia (3-2) and a goalless draw with Iraq in the Asian playoff, granting his country its seventh qualification in history and the third in a row.