Bangkok hosts the Asian Football Confederation's 2026 awards ceremony with two Saudis in the mix for the continent's best player prize. Salem Al-Dawsari and Firas Al-Buraikan are locked in a strong race alongside Iran's Alireza Beiranvand, chasing another landmark for Saudi football.
The Asian Football Confederation has announced its final list of nominees for the annual awards, with the ceremony set for 19 November. Attention falls above all on the best player in Asia award, where Saudi representation comes through Al-Hilal star and national team captain Salem Al-Dawsari and Al-Ahli striker Firas Al-Buraikan.
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Al-Dawsari wants a new chapter in his continental story. He has already won best player in Asia in 2022 and 2025, which puts a historic third title within reach. The Al-Hilal captain arrives as one of the leading stars of Saudi football, carried by the striking levels he has hit over the past period.
His season with Al-Hilal was outstanding. They finished the 2025-2026 Saudi League campaign second without losing a single match and lifted the King's Cup for the tenth time in their history, with the Saudi star influential throughout those domestic successes and his claim on the continental award growing stronger.
Al-Buraikan, by contrast, enters the best player in Asia race for the first time. He left an important mark with Al-Ahli Saudi during the 2025-2026 season, scoring the winning goal in the AFC Champions League Elite final to crown his side champions for the second year running.
That goal hands the Saudi striker a serious boost in a field full of names with long continental experience.
His year did not stop at club level. Al-Buraikan started all three of the Saudi national team's matches at the 2026 World Cup and helped Saudi Arabia lift the Arabian Gulf Cup, finishing as the tournament's top scorer with three goals. Brilliance with his club, influence with his country, and a year packed with important milestones in his career.
Beiranvand, meanwhile, comes into the running off a year of striking presence at international and continental level. The Iranian was his country's most-used goalkeeper at the 2026 World Cup and helped Tractor reach the round of 16 of the 2025-2026 AFC Champions League.
It is a second nomination for the 34-year-old, who made the list back in 2019. He completes a three-way contest for one of the most prominent individual awards in Asian football.