Our round up of the top 100 performers in Asia returns with our #SFGTop100 2016 series. This month, we’ll run through our contributor’s top picks from the continent and will crown our victor for 2016. The year’s highlights in a nutshell included the concluding of Round 2 and the first half of Round 3 in World Cup qualification, while Jeonbuk Motors were crowned AFC Champions League champions for the first time in 10 years with victory over Al Ain. Also from the club game, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya beat Bengaluru in the final of the AFC Cup.

Internationally, with no Asian or World Cup to speak of, focus was on the youth age groups, first with the AFC Under 23 Championships (effectively a youth Asian Cup), before the victors of which took part in a mixed bag of efforts in last summer’s Olympics. At times this year it has been a testing time to be an Asian football follower, but with World Cup qualification now on the final stretch, qualification for 2019’s Asian Cup set to resume, the U20 World Cup in South Korea to look forward to and with Australia taking the Asian cause to the Confederations Cup, 2017 is expected to keep us enthralled.

At any time, if you want to let us know what you think of our selection, comment on the site or use the hashtag #SFGTop100 on Twitter. We hope you enjoy the return of the series, but if you missed last year’s selection, feel free to peruse here.

Quick Links

#SFGTop100 Asia – 76 – 100
#SFGTop100 Asia – 51 – 75
#SFGTop100 Asia – 41 – 50
#SFGTop100 Asia – 31 – 40
#SFGTop100 Asia – 21 – 30

#SFGTop100 Asia – Full List (As released)

1. Son Heung-Min / Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) / South Korea (Last Year: 6)
2. Omar Abdulrahman / Al Ain (UAE) / UAE (Last Year: 1)
3. Sardar Azmoun / Rostov (RUS) / Iran (Last Year: 21)
4. Aaron Mooy / Huddersfield Town (ENG) / Australia (Last Year: 56)
5. Wu Lei / Shanghai SIPG (CHN) / China (Last Year: 34)
6. Tom Rogic / Celtic (SCO) / Australia (Last Year: 90)
7. Omar Al-Somah / Al-Ahli (KSA) / Saudi Arabia (Last Year: 11)
8. Genki Haraguchi / Hertha Berlin (GER) / Japan (New Entry)
9. Hammadi Ahmed / Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (IRQ) / Iraq (New Entry)
10. Mohanad Abdulraheem / Al-Nasr (UAE) / Iraq (New Entry)
11. Akram Afif / Sporting Gijon (ESP) / Qatar (Last Year: 52)
12. Ali Ahmed Mabkhout / Al-Jazira (UAE) / UAE (Last Year: 20)
13. Ki Sung-Yueng / Swansea City (ENG) / South Korea (Last Year: 3)
14. Ahmed Khalil / Al-Ahli (UAE) / UAE (Last Year: 4)
15. Nawaf Al-Abed / Al-Hilal (KSA) / Saudi Arabia (New Entry)
16. Egor Krimets / Beijing Guoan (CHN) / Uzbekistan (New Entry)
17. Fahad Al-Muwallad / Al-Ittihad (KSA) / Saudi Arabia (New Entry)
18. Hiroshi Kiyotake / Sevilla (ESP) / Japan (New Entry)
19. Tim Cahill / Melbourne City (AUS) / Australia (Last Year: 15)
20. Lee Jae-Sung / Jeonbuk Motors (KOR) / South Korea (Last Year: 12)
21. Mathew Ryan / Valencia (ESP) / Australia (Last Year: 2)
22. Alireza Jahanbakhsh / AZ Alkmaar (NED) / Iran (Last Year: 18)
23. Igor Sergeev / Beijing Guoan (CHN) / Uzbekistan (Last Year: 17)
24. Keisuke Honda / AC Milan (ITA) / Japan (Last Year: 19)
25. Saad Abdulameer / Al-Qadisiyah (KSA) / Iraq (New Entry)
26. Shinji Okazaki / Leicester City (ENG) / Japan (Last Year: 57)
27. Kwon Chang-Hoon / Suwon Bluewings (KOR) / South Korea (Last Year: 67)
28. Tomi Juric / Luzern (SUI) / Australia (New Entry)
29. Wu Xi / Jiangsu Suning (CHN) / China (New Entry)
30. Hassan Al-Haidos / Al Sadd (QAT) / Qatar (Last Year: 13)
31. Feng Xiaoting / Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN) / China (New Entry)
32. Mehdi Taremi / Persepolis (IRI) / Iran (Last Year: 33)
33. Taisir Al-Jassim / Al-Ahli (KSA) / Saudi Arabia (Last Year: 27)
34. Koo Ja-Cheol / Augsburg (GER) / South Korea (New Entry)
35. Sebastian Soria / Al Rayyan (QAT) / Qatar (New Entry)
36. Khalid Eisa / Al Ain (UAE) / UAE (New Entry)
37. Nam Tae-Hee / Lekhwiya (QAT) / South Korea (New Entry)
38. Saeed Ezatolahi / Rostov (RUS) / Iran (New Entry)
39. Ali Al-Habsi / Reading (ENG) / Oman (New Entry)
40. Odil Akhmedov / Krasnodar (RUS) / Uzbekistan (Last Year: 28)
41. Teerasil Dangda / Muangthong United (THA) / Thailand (New Entry)
42. Hwang Hee-Chan / Red Bull Sazlburg (AUT) / South Korea (New Entry)
43. Wataru Endo / Urawa Red Diamonds (JPN) / Japan (New Entry)
44. Mohammad Tayyebi / Esteghlal Khuzestan (IRI) / Iran (New Entry)
45. Abdulmajeed Al-Ruwalli / Al-Hilal (KSA) / Saudi Arabia (New Entry)
46. Takuma Asano / VfB Stuttgart (GER) / Japan (New Entry)
47. Jamie Maclaren / Brisbane Roar (AUS) / Australia (New Entry)
48. Aleksandr Geynrikh / Ordabasy (KAZ) / Uzbekistan (New Entry)
49. Saad Al-Sheeb / Al Sadd (QAT) / Qatar (New Entry)
50. Ryu Seung-Woo / Ferencvaros (HUN) / South Korea (New Entry)
51. Huang Bowen / Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN) / China (New Entry)
52. Vitaliy Denisov / Lokomotiv Moscow (RUS) / Uzbekistan (Last Year: 80)
53. Bruce Kamau / Melbourne City (AUS) / Australia (New Entry)
54. Abdelkarim Hassan / Al Sadd (QAT) / Qatar (Last Year: 24)
55. Osama Hawsawi / Al-Hilal (KSA) / Saudi Arabia (New Entry)
56. Alireza Beiranvand / Persepolis (IRI) / Iran (Last Year: 64)
57. Sardor Rashidov / El Jaish (QAT) / Uzbekistan (Last Year: 22)
58. Tariq Ahmed / Al Nasr (UAE) / UAE (New Entry)
59. Yosuke Kashiwagi / Urawa Red Diamonds (JPN) / Japan (New Entry)
60. Matt Leckie / Ingolstadt (GER) / Australia (Last Year: 43)
61. Sunil Chhetri / Bengaluru FC (IND) / India (New Entry)
62. Theeratorn Bunmathan / Muangthong United (THA) / Thailand (New Entry)
63. Rodrigo Tabata / Al-Rayyan (QAT) / Qatar (New Entry)
64. Jiang Zhipeng / Guangzhou R&F (CHN) / China (New Entry)
65. Omar Khirbin / Al-Dhafra (UAE) / Syria (Last Year: 50)
66. Alaa Ali Mhawi / Al-Zawraa (IRQ) / Iraq (New Entry)
67. Trent Sainsbury / Jiangsu Suning (CHN) / Australia (Last Year: 73)
68. Ismail Al-Hammadi / Al-Ahli (UAE) / UAE (Last Year: 31)
69. Kwak Tae-Hwi / FC Seoul (KOR) / South Korea (Last Year: 23)
70. Reza Ghoochannejhad / Heerenveen (NED) / Iran (New Entry)
71. Aleksandr Lobanov / Pakhtakor (UZB) / Uzbekistan (New Entry)
72. Yahya Al-Shehri / Al-Nassr (KSA) / Saudi Arabia (New Entry)
73. Kim Bo-Kyung / Jeonbuk Motors (KOR) / South Korea (New Entry)
74. Ryota Oshima / Kawasaki Frontale (JPN) / Japan (New Entry)
75. Mohd Safiq Rahim / Johor Darul Ta’zim (MAS) / Malaysia (Last Year: 55)
76. Karim Ansarifard / Panionios (GRE) / Iran (New Entry)
77. Shinji Kagawa / Borussia Dortmund (GER) / Japan (Last Year: 81)
78. Ismail Ahmed / Al Ain (UAE) / UAE (New Entry)
79. Zeng Cheng / Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN) / China (New Entry)
80. Stefan Mauk / NEC (NED) / Australia (New Entry) 
81. Meshaal Abdullah / Al-Ahli (QAT) / Qatar (New Entry)
82. Jung Jo-Gook / Gwangju (KOR) / South Korea (New Entry)
83. Hitoshi Sogahata / Kashima Antlers (JPN) / Japan (New Entry)
84. Ahmed Alaa / Al-Rayyan (QAT) / Qatar (New Entry)
85. Jackson Irvine / Burton Albion (ENG) / Australia (New Entry)
86. Nasser Al-Shamrani / Al-Hilal (KSA) / Saudi Arabia (New Entry)
87. Chencho Gyeltshen / Tertons (BHU) / Bhuran (Last Year: 100)
88. Termurkhuja Abdukholikov / Lokomotiv Tashkent (UZB) / Uzbekistan (New Entry)
89. Le Cong Vinh / Bin Duong (VIE) / Vietnam (New Entry)
90. Matthew Jurman / Sydney FC (AUS) / Australia (New Entry)
91. Alex Akande / Kitchee (HKG) / Hong Kong (New Entry)
92. Ji Dong-Won / Augsburg (GER) / South Korea (New Entry)
93. Ahmed Yasser / Lekhwiya (QAT) / Qatar (New Entry)
94. Ibrahim Alma / Al-Ittihad (SYR) / Syria (New Entry)
95. Leong Ka Hang / Pegasus (HKG) / Macau (New Entry)
96. Gen Shoji / Kashima Antlers (JPN) / Japan (New Entry)
97. Adisak Kraisorn / Muangthong United (THA) / Thailand (New Entry)
98. Mohammadi Milad / Terek Grozny (RUS) / Iran (New Entry)
99. Mohammed Dawood / Al Naft SC (IRQ) / Iraq (New Entry)
100. Jong Il-Gwon / Rimyongsu (PRK) / North Korea (Last Year: 29)