Geller tractor among the two Saudi candidates / Biranvand, Goddad and hope to repeat a memory!

The presence of two Saudi candidates in the final list of the best Asian player of the year has revived the memory of the 1996 competition and the victory of Khodadad Azizi for Iranian football.

According to "Varzesh Se", the Asian Football Confederation announced the three finalists for the 2026 best player award, and Alireza Biranvand will compete for this title alongside Salem Al-Dosari, the captain of Al-Hilal, and Firas Al-Barikan, the striker of Al-Ahly.

The simultaneous presence of Al-Dosri and Al-Barikan has made Saudi Arabia to have two representatives among the main candidates for the Asian Football Man of the Year award again after 21 years. This is the third time in history that two Saudi players have been nominated for this award at the same time. The previous two cases were in 1996 and 2005.

In 1996, Youssef Al Thanian and Mohammad Al Da'i from Saudi Arabia along with Khodadad Azizi, Ali Dae and Ko Jongwon from South Korea were among the candidates to receive this award. Despite Saudi Arabia winning the Asian Nations Cup, Khodadad Azizi, who played an important role in Iran's promotion to the semi-finals, won the title of the best player of the continent.

Now, Iranian football fans are hoping that after 30 years, a similar event will be repeated and Biranvand will bring the Asian Man of the Year award to Iran in competition with two Saudi candidates. The victory of the Iranian goalkeeper can revive the memory of the selection of Khodadad Azizi in the competition with Al-Thanyan and Al-Da'i.

The second simultaneous appearance of two Saudi players was in 2005. Al-Hilal star Sami Al-Jaber and Al-Ittihad defender Hamad Al-Munashri were nominated for the award along with Maksim Shatskikh from Uzbekistan. Al-Jaber's name was removed from the final list 24 hours before the ceremony due to his inability to attend the venue, and finally Al-Mantashri won the award for the best player in Asia.

The presentation ceremony of the best Asian football players will be held on November 19 in Bangkok. In this ceremony, Biranvand seeks to become the latest Iranian player to win this award and end the long wait for Iranian football.