Biranvand was nominated for the best player of the year in Asia; There are also two Iranian futsal players

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced the list of nominees for the 2026 Asian Awards, based on which Alireza Biranvand is among the three finalists for the Asian Player of the Year.

According to Mehr reporter, the 2026 Asian Football Confederation awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, November 28 in Bangkok, Thailand. This ceremony will be held in Thailand for the second time after 2017, and the Axra King Power Theater will host the 30th edition of this event.

In total, the best players in Asian football are presented in 19 categories, and the awards for the best male and female player of the year in Asia are among the most important parts of this ceremony.

Biranvand in competition with two Saudi stars

Alireza Biranvand, the goalkeeper of the Iranian national football team and Tractor Club, is one of the three final candidates for the title of the best player of the year in Asia. Firas Al-Barikan from Al-Ahli Saudi Arabia and Salem Al-Dosari from Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia are other candidates for this award.

Biranvand's brilliance in the 2026 World Cup played an important role in placing him among the candidates for this award. Despite the remarkable performance, the Iranian national team failed to advance to the sixteenth round due to the goal difference.

This 34-year-old goalkeeper, who holds the record for the most national games in the history of Iranian football, helped Tractor to advance to the round of 16 in the 2025-2026 season of the Asian Elite League. Biranvand was previously nominated for this award in 2019.

For the first time, Firas Al-Barikan has been among the candidates for the best player of the year in Asia. He played an important role in Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahly's championship in the Asian Elite League last season and scored the team's championship goal in the final match. With this championship, Al-Ahly became the second team to win two consecutive rounds of this competition.

This 26-year-old striker also helped Al-Ahly to finish the Saudi League season in third place. He also scored two goals for the Saudi national team in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and played in all three matches of this team in the World Cup.

Salem Al-Dossari, the star of Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia, has been nominated for this award for the third time in the last four seasons. He won this title in 2022 and 2025. If he is re-elected, he can win the Asian Player of the Year award for the third time.

In the 2026 World Cup, 35-year-old Al-Dossari increased the number of his matches in this competition to 9 matches and, along with another Saudi player, ranked second in the most matches played by this country's national team in the history of the World Cup. He was also the captain of Al-Hilal in the undefeated season of this team in the Saudi League and together with this club, he celebrated the championship of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the 10th time.

The competition of three players for the best female soccer player in Asia

Australia's Holly McNamara, North Korea's Kim Kyung-yong and South Korea's Kim Hye-ri are candidates for the title of the best female player of the year in Asia.

McNamara has been nominated for the second year in a row. He shone in the Melbourne City squad, winning the title of the league's top scorer for two consecutive seasons and helping the team to win their third consecutive league title and first Australian championship in six years.

This 23-year-old attacker also had a brilliant performance in the Asian Women's Champions League. Melbourne City reached the semi-final stage and McNamara won the title of the best scorer of this competition with four goals. She was also a member of the Australian national team that reached the runner-up position in the 2026 Asian Women's Cup.

Kim Kyung-yong was also one of the main figures of North Korea's Nae-gu-hyung's historic championship in the Asian Women's Champions League. This club is considered to be the first North Korean team in men's or women's football to win a championship title in the AFC competition.

Kim, who also won the Most Valuable Player award, scored in the final four matches of his team and scored the lone goal of the final match. The 24-year-old striker also scored four goals in the 2026 Asian Women's Cup and helped the North Korean national team reach the quarter-finals and qualify for the 2027 Women's World Cup.

Kim Hye-ri, the 36-year-old South Korean defender, has been nominated for this award for the second time after 2023. After accompanying Wuhan Jiangda in the group stage of the Asian Women's Champions League, she joined Suwon FC Women and reached the semi-finals with this team. He also had a significant performance on the way to the South Korean national team's promotion to the semi-finals of the 2026 Asian Women's Cup.

The competition of Asians working outside the continent

South Korean and Atletico Madrid star Lee Kang-in is competing with Japan's Ayase Ueda and South Korea's Hwang In-beum to retain the title of best Asian player working outside of Asia.

Alana Kennedy and Caitlin Ford from Australia and Yui Hasegawa from Japan have been nominated in the women's category of this award.

Candidates for the best coach of the year in Asia

In the Asian Men's Coach of the Year category, Joseph Montemorrow, Go Kuroda and Sadayoshi Shirai have been nominated for the first time.

Ma Xiaoshu from China, Marzieh Jafari from Iran and Park Yunjung from South Korea are also present in the category of the best female coach of the year in Asia. Jafari and Park have won this title before.

Candidates for the best young player in Asia

In the Asian Young Male Player of the Year category, three Japanese players including Maki Kitahara, Ryun Ichihara and Ryunosuke Sato are competing against each other.

In the women's section, Kim Wonsim and Yoo Jonghyang from North Korea and Noa Fukushima from Japan have been nominated.

Two representatives of Iran in the category of the best futsal player of the year in Asia

In the category of the best futsal player of the year in Asia, Hossein Tayibi from Gehrzamin Sirjan and Saeed Ahmad Abbasi from Gittipasand Isfahan, along with Mohammad Osman Musan from Thailand, who plays in the Gymby Cartagena club in Spain, are nominated to receive this award.

Complete list of nominees for the 2026 Asia Awards

- Alireza Biranvand (Tractor and Iran National Team)

- Firas Al-Barikan (Al-Ahly of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi national team)

- Salem Al-Dossari (Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi national team)

- Holly McNamara (Melbourne City and Everton; Australia)

- Kim Kyung-yong (Nae-gu-hyung; North Korea)

- Kim Hye-ri (Wuhan Jiangda and Suwon FC Women; South Korea)

The best Asian male player working outside the continent

- Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord and Lille; Japan)

- Hwang In-beom (Feyenoord and Porto; South Korea)

- Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid; South Korea)