Highlights

• Asia has produced top football talent like Son Heung-min, Shinji Kagawa, and Ali Daei who left their mark on world football.
• Ranking factors like international achievements, club success, individual awards, and legacy determine the best Asian footballers.
• Players like Park Ji-sung, Cha Bum-kun, and Keisuke Honda have made significant contributions to their respective national teams and clubs.

The footballing empires of Europe and South America undoubtedly boast the best of the best talent. But with Asia being such a vast continent itself, there have been plenty of footballers to have left their stamp on football. From South Korea's surge to the 2002 World Cup semi-finals on home soil, to Japan's victory at the 2011 Women's World Cup, Asia has a proud footballing past.

As a result, the Eastern continent has had its fair share of top talent showing a clean pair of heels to the production line over the years. In the Premier League alone, the likes of Son Heung-min, Shinji Okazaki, and Park Ji-Sung have blessed the English game with their tantalising flair, unassailable charisma and undeniable quality.

Further afield, Keisuke Honda and Ali Daei are among those who have made an enduring impact on world football, thus making any list of the best Asian footballers a difficult assignment. But by using a number of ranking factors to help decipher the great from the good, GIVEMESPORT has done its best.

Ranking factors

• International achievements (honours, appearances, goals, assists, etc)
• Club achievements (honours, appearances, goals, assists, etc)
• Individual awards
• Legacy within football

10 Hong Myung-bo (South Korea)

Career Span: 1990 - 2004

As the first of many South Korean idols on this list, Hong Myung-bo's 136 caps make him his country's joint top appearance maker. Boasting superb vision, passing range and balance also proves he's not just an entry because of his longevity.

The defender captained South Korea to their famous fourth-place finish at the 2002 World Cup and his performances saw him scoop the Bronze Ball - the first ever Asian player to do so. The 2002 tournament was Myung-Bo's fourth successive World Cup - again, the first Asian player to achieve such an accolade.

9 Shinji Kagawa (Japan)

Career Span: 2006 - Present

Early on, Shinji Kagawa had all the makings of an all-time great - potentially, even, of the greatest Asian player ever. By 23 years old, he had already lifted two Bundesliga titles with Borussia Dortmund, but injuries that ensued in his time at Manchester United left him sidelined for much of his Old Trafford tenure, despite still becoming the first man from Japan to win the Premier League.

Kagawa has made 97 appearances for his country, scored 31 goals and won the Asian International Player of the Year award in 2012. So, regardless of not quite living up to the promise shown early on in his career, he will go down as a great. But if he wasn't marred by fitness bouts, he would certainly have been higher in this list. He's not done with football yet, though, and still plays to this day, surprisingly!

8 Ali Daei (Iran)

Career Span: 1987 - 2007

The 'Iranian Maradona' was international football's all-time top goalscorer with 108 goals in 148 caps, before Cristiano Ronaldo beat Ali Daei in 2021. He remains only the second player ever to score more than 100, with the striker's height, strength, and cutting edge making up the maquillage of an Asian Hall of Fame inductee.

Voted AFC Asian Footballer of the Year in 1999 – having won the Bundesliga title and reaching the Champions League final with Bayern Munich – Daei played in the 1998 and 2006 World Cups. Mehdi Mahdavikia, Sami Al-Jaber, and Ahmed Radhi all missed out on making the list as Daei is the only Western Asian entry.

7 Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan)

Career Span: 1995 - 2006

In 1997, Hidetoshi Nakata became the first-ever Asian footballer to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or - by the time his career came to an end, he achieved the feat another two times, with a commendable three nominations in four years. The highly skilful and all-seeing midfielder netted five goals as Japan secured qualification for their maiden World Cup in 1998.

At club level, he spent five years in the Serie A during a purple patch for Italian domestic football, even netting in the 2002 Coppa Italia final for Parma. He hung up his boots in 2006 at the age of just 29 after 381 spellbinding club appearances for the likes of Roma and Fiorentina, before a short-lived loan stint in the Premier League for Bolton Wanderers.

6 Kim Joo-sung (South Korea)

Career Span: 1987 - 1996

Ranked second in IFFHS's Asian Player of the Century, Kim Joo-sung was renowned for his pace and long mane of hair - which earned him the nickname 'Wild Horse'. A one-club man except for his end of career loan to VfL Bochum, the Daewoo Royals winger won the Asian Footballer of the Year award three years on the trot between 1989 and 1991 - a feat that has only been replicated once (by Son Heung-Min in 2023).

Playing for the Taegeuk Warriors, Joo-sung won a gold medal at the 1986 Asian Games as his first piece of international success. Afterwards, he would go on to steer his country to the 1988 Asian Cup final before losing on penalties to Saudi Arabia. He became the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, crowning his South Korean glory by also being named the Most Outstanding Player in the Asian qualification of the 1990 FIFA World Cup after South Korea won the competition without a defeat.

5 Keisuke Honda (Japan)

Career Span: 2004 - 2021

In Japan, excellence is demanded in all walks of life. The standards are always high - and Keisuke Honda is the shining Hoshi of their footballing pride. Noted for his creativity and threat from dead-ball situations, the attacking midfielder personified consistency for over a decade.

While 98 appearances for his nation, Honda earned his stripes when he rose to prominence at the 2010 World Cup - being named Japanese Player of the Year for his efforts with the Samurai Blue - before winning Player of the Tournament a year later in Japan's 2011 Asian Cup triumph. By watching his goals and skills compilation, it could be argued he's the most entertaining player on this enviable list.

4 Park Ji-sung (South Korea)

Career Span: 2000 - 2014

Revered as the first Asian player to conquer the Premier League, Manchester United's beloved Park Ji-sung helped put Asian football on the map. The industrious midfielder, with his remarkable endurance earning him the nickname "Three-Lung" Park, was the first Asian footballer to have won the UEFA Champions League, to play in a UEFA Champions League final, as well as the first Asian to have won the FIFA Club World Cup.

Park won four Premier League titles, was nominated for the Ballon d'Or in 2005 and was an integral part of the South Korean side that reached the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup. In all, the energetic midfielder won an incredible 19 trophies in his career and made a century of caps for his country.

3 Paulino Alcantara (Philippines)

Career Span: 1912 - 1923

With 143 goals in 395 official appearances for Barcelona, Paulino Alcantara is the Catalan club's seventh all-time top scorer. He ranks above prestigious players such as Rivaldo, Hristo Stoichkov, and Samuel Eto'o to prove his goal-scoring tendencies were simply astonishing.

Making his debut at 15 years old, he remains the youngest player to play and score for the club. Born to a Spanish father and Filipino mother, the forward played for both countries at international level, retiring at the age of 31 to pursue a career as a doctor.

GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: For 87 years, Paulino Alcantara held Barcelona’s record for the most goals in official and friendly matches (a certain Lionel Messi surpassed his total of 369 in 2014).

2 Cha Bum-kun (South Korea)

Career Span: 1972 - 1989

Scoring 98 goals in 308 Bundesliga games, Korean icon Cha Bum-kun won two UEFA Cups, one with each of Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen in the 1980s. Known for his explosive pace and talismanic abilities, the striker was crowned Asian Player of the Century in 1999.

For his country, the talent never ceased. He remains South Korea's all-time top scorer with 58 goals in 136 appearances, becoming international football's youngest centurion at just 24 years old. After his retirement, he opened a football academy to develop youth players in South Korea, and managed the national team for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The striker was nicknamed Tscha Bum or "Cha Boom" in Germany because of his name and thunderous ball-striking ability. He showed explosive pace and powerful shots with his thick thighs.

1 Son Heung-min (South Korea)

Career Span: 2010 - Present

Also the most famous Asian player of all time, Son Heung-min made history in 2023 when he became the first from the continent to score 100 Premier League goals. The Tottenham Hotspur forward shared the Golden Boot award in 2021–2022, winning the Puskas Award for his sublime solo goal against Burnley in the same season.

Though missing the club honours that other entries on this list boast, the South Korean has won Asian Footballer of the Year in the previous three years - the most of any other rival for the award. And don't be surprised if that man - who has over 240 combined goal contributions (goals and assists) for Spurs - wins that award again during his career.

All stats via Transfermarkt (as of 17/04/24)