Al Hilal and Saudi national team captain Salem Al-Dawsari was crowned the AFC Player of the Year 2025 during the Asian Football Confederation Awards ceremony held in Riyadh on Thursday evening.
Al Dawsari triumphed over Qatar’s Akram Afif and Malaysia’s Arif Aiman to claim the prestigious honor.
With this achievement, Al Dawsari becomes the first Saudi player to win the award twice, following his previous triumph in 2022, and only the fourth Asian player to achieve the same milestone.
His victory brings Saudi Arabia’s tally of individual AFC awards to seven, previously earned by Saeed Al-Owairan (1994), Nawaf Al-Temyat (2000), Hamad Al-Montashari (2005), Yasser Al-Qahtani (2007), Nasser Al-Shamrani (2014), and Al-Dawsari (2022, 2025).
Al Hilal further cemented its status as the most decorated club in AFC Player of the Year history, with six of its players now having lifted the trophy.
Al Dawsari had an extraordinary season, scoring 28 goals and providing 19 assists for club and country, while playing a key role in leading Saudi Arabia to qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Following the ceremony, Al-Dawsari expressed his gratitude to the Saudi leadership, the Ministry of Sports, the Saudi Football Federation, and the fans of both Al Hilal and the national team.
He described the award as a new beginning toward even greater ambitions to make the nation proud.
Al Dawsari continues to reinforce his place among Asia’s football elite and remains a symbol of pride for Saudi sports.
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