Son Heung-min wins AFC International Player of the Year award for record fourth time

Tottenham Hotspur and Korean national team captain Son Heung-min won the AFC International Player of the Year award on Tuesday for a record fourth time.

Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min celebrates scoring during the Premier League match against West Ham United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on Oct. 19. [AFP/YONHAP]

Tottenham Hotspur and Korean national team captain Son Heung-min won the AFC International Player of the Year award on Tuesday for a record fourth time.

The International Player of the Year from the AFC Annual Awards is an annual honor conferred to the best Asian player who displays outstanding performances outside Asia in a year.

Son did not attend the awards ceremony at Kyung Hee University in Korea, which hosted the event for the first time, due to the ongoing 2024-25 Premier League season.

Son’s fourth International Player of the Year award, having previously won in 2015, 2017 and 2019, comes after another impressive performance in the 2023-24 season, during which he led Korea to the AFC Asian Cup semifinals and set a historic goal scoring record for Spurs.

Son captained Korea in the Asian Cup and scored a crucial free-kick goal in the quarterfinal against Australia in February, sending Korea through to the semifinals, where the team ultimately crashed out.

For Spurs, he not only earned the captain's armband ahead of the 2023-24 season but also scored 17 goals in 36 matches across all competitions, becoming the club’s fifth top scorer in the process. As of press time Wednesday, he has registered 165 goals for Spurs.

No other Korean player won any AFC award this year, although Red Star Belgrade fullback Seol Young-woo was on the final candidate list for the AFC Player of the Year, awarded to the Asian player who has the best performance at an AFC club in a year.

Korea's Seol Young-woo, left, in aciton during a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Jordan at Amman International Stadium in Jordan on Oct 11. [NEWS1]

Now a Red Star player, Seol was a core part of Ulsan HD in 2023, contributing to the team’s first back-to-back K League 1 titles and reaching the 2023-24 AFC Champions League semifinals with the K League club. That notable performance allowed him to move to Red Star in June.

This year’s AFC Player of the Year award went to Al Sadd forward Akram Afif, who delivered a strong performance to lead Qatar to Asian Cup victory. He becomes the third player to win the award more than once, following Japan’s Hidetoshi Nakata in 1997 and 1998 and Uzbekistan’s Server Djeparov in 2008 and 2011.

Qatar's forward Akram Afif speaks after receiving the AFC Player of the Year award during the AFC Annual Awards 2023 ceremony Kyung Hee University in eastern Seoul on Tuesday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Afif won his first AFC Player of the Year award in 2019 when he provided 10 assists to contribute to Qatar’s first Asian Cup win.

He was also a key player in this year’s Asian Cup victory, racking up eight goals and three assists, and becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in the final.

In the AFC Coach of the Year category, U-20 Korean women’s national team manager Park Youn-jeong won the Women’s Coach of the Year award for leading the team to the AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup semifinals and the U-20 World Cup round of 16.

Korean U-20 women's national team manager Park Youn-jeong, center, poses with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, left, and Korea Football Association President Chung Mong-gyu with the AFC Women’s Coach of the Year award at Kyung Hee University in eastern Seoul on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

“I dedicate this win to all the players and technical staff who give their best on the field,” Park said in a statement released on the AFC website on Tuesday. “For me, this will remain a constant reminder to work even harder in the future.

“It is my goal to be a coach who can truly make a difference and help players realize their true potential. For instance, even though the FIFA U-20 World Cup is not the highest stage, it is an incredible opportunity for players to grow, and I consider it an honor to share the journey with a great team.”

This award makes Park the second Korean coach to win the accolade, following former U-17 women’s national team manager Kim Tae-hee in 2010.

The Men’s Coach of the Year award, meanwhile, went to U-23 Japanese national team manager Go Oiwa, who became the first to win the award twice.

The 2018 winner added a second award after leading Japan to the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup title in May for a record second time.

“This is something we have achieved as a team,” Oiwa said. “I am really happy to win this, as in my eyes, it is a collective victory. The driving force behind the youth teams in Japan is the respect they have for the senior national team.”

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]