Year Rank Player Team Ref.
1994 1st Saudi Arabia Saeed Owairan Saudi Arabia Al Shabab [3]
1995 1st Japan Masami Ihara Japan Yokohama Marinos [3]
1996 1st Iran Khodadad Azizi Iran Bahman [3]
— Iran Ali Daei Qatar Al Sadd
South Korea Ko Jeong-woon South Korea Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma
Saudi Arabia Mohamed Al-Deayea Saudi Arabia Al-Tai
Saudi Arabia Yousuf Al-Thunayan Saudi Arabia Al Hilal
1997 1st Japan Hidetoshi Nakata Japan Shonan Bellmare [3]
— South Korea Choi Yong-soo South Korea Sangmu FC
Iran Karim Bagheri Germany Arminia Bielefeld
Iran Khodadad Azizi Germany 1. FC Köln
1998 1st Japan Hidetoshi Nakata Italy Perugia [3]
— Iran Ali Daei Germany Bayern Munich
China Fan Zhiyi England Crystal Palace
Kuwait Jasem Al Huwaidi Kuwait Al-Salmiya
1999 1st Iran Ali Daei Germany Hertha BSC [3]
— Kuwait Bashar Abdullah Kuwait Al-Salmiya
Japan Hidetoshi Nakata Italy Perugia
South Korea Hwang Sun-hong Japan Cerezo Osaka
Japan Masashi Nakayama Japan Júbilo Iwata
China Sun Wen[note 1] China Shanghai SVA
2000 1st Saudi Arabia Nawaf Al-Temyat Saudi Arabia Al Hilal [3]
— Japan Hiroshi Nanami Japan Júbilo Iwata
South Korea Lee Dong-gook South Korea Pohang Steelers
Japan Ryuzo Morioka Japan Shimizu S-Pulse
2001 1st China Fan Zhiyi Scotland Dundee [3]
— Saudi Arabia Abdullah Al-Shehan Saudi Arabia Al Shabab
Iran Ali Karimi United Arab Emirates Al Ahli
China Li Tie China Liaoning Fushun Tegang
Uzbekistan Mirjalol Qosimov Russia Krylia Sovetov Samara
2002 1st Japan Shinji Ono Netherlands Feyenoord [3]
— South Korea Ahn Jung-hwan Italy Perugia
Japan Junichi Inamoto England Fulham
China Li Tie England Everton
2004 1st Iran Ali Karimi United Arab Emirates Al Ahli [3]
— Bahrain A'ala Hubail Bahrain Al-Ahli
Japan Shunsuke Nakamura Italy Reggina
2005 1st Saudi Arabia Hamad Al-Montashari Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad [16]
2nd Uzbekistan Maxim Shatskikh[note 2] Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv
2006 1st Qatar Khalfan Ibrahim Qatar Al Sadd [17]
— Kuwait Bader Al-Mutawa Kuwait Qadsia
Saudi Arabia Mohammad Al-Shalhoub Saudi Arabia Al Hilal
2007 1st Saudi Arabia Yasser Al-Qahtani Saudi Arabia Al Hilal [18]
— Iraq Nashat Akram United Arab Emirates Al Ain
Iraq Younis Mahmoud Qatar Al-Gharafa
2008 1st Uzbekistan Server Djeparov Uzbekistan Bunyodkor [19]
— United Arab Emirates Ismail Matar United Arab Emirates Al Wahda
Qatar Sebastián Soria Qatar Qatar SC
Japan Yasuhito Endō Japan Gamba Osaka
Japan Yuji Nakazawa Japan Yokohama F. Marinos
2009 1st Japan Yasuhito Endō Japan Gamba Osaka [20]
2nd Japan Kengo Nakamura[note 3] Japan Kawasaki Frontale
Bahrain Sayed Mohamed Adnan[note 3] Qatar Al-Khor
2011 1st Uzbekistan Server Djeparov Saudi Arabia Al Shabab [22]
2nd Iran Hadi Aghily[note 2] Qatar Al-Arabi
2012 1st South Korea Lee Keun-ho South Korea Ulsan Hyundai [23]
— Iran Ali Karimi Iran Persepolis
China Zheng Zhi China Guangzhou Evergrande
2013 1st China Zheng Zhi China Guangzhou Evergrande [24]
— South Korea Ha Dae-sung South Korea FC Seoul
Iran Javad Nekounam Iran Esteghlal
2014 1st Saudi Arabia Nasser Al-Shamrani Saudi Arabia Al Hilal [25]
— United Arab Emirates Ismail Ahmed United Arab Emirates Al Ain
Qatar Khalfan Ibrahim Qatar Al Sadd
2015 1st United Arab Emirates Ahmed Khalil United Arab Emirates Al Ahli [26]
— United Arab Emirates Omar Abdulrahman United Arab Emirates Al Ain
China Zheng Zhi China Guangzhou Evergrande
2016 1st United Arab Emirates Omar Abdulrahman United Arab Emirates Al Ain [27]
— Iraq Hammadi Ahmed Iraq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
China Wu Lei China Shanghai SIPG
2017 1st Syria Omar Kharbin Saudi Arabia Al Hilal [28]
— United Arab Emirates Omar Abdulrahman United Arab Emirates Al Ain
China Wu Lei China Shanghai SIPG
2018 1st Qatar Abdelkarim Hassan Qatar Al Sadd [29]
— Japan Kento Misao Japan Kashima Antlers
Japan Yuma Suzuki Japan Kashima Antlers
2019 1st Qatar Akram Afif Qatar Al Sadd [30]
— Iran Alireza Beiranvand Iran Persepolis
Japan Tomoaki Makino Japan Urawa Red Diamonds
Not awarded from 2020 to 2021
2022 1st Saudi Arabia Salem Al-Dawsari Saudi Arabia Al Hilal [31]
— Qatar Almoez Ali Qatar Al-Duhail
Australia Mathew Leckie Australia Melbourne City
Iran Sardar Azmoun
Japan Takumi Minamino
Japan Yuya Osako
9 goals
Syria Omar Al Somah
8 goals
Vietnam Nguyễn Tiến Linh
7 goals
Australia Jamie Maclaren
Iran Karim Ansarifard
Iran Mehdi Taremi
Saudi Arabia Salem Al-Dawsari
Saudi Arabia Saleh Al-Shehri
South Korea Son Heung-min
Uzbekistan Eldor Shomurodov