The AFC Best Goal Scorers in 1st Quarter of XXI Century
Ali Ashfaq (Maldives) – picture – is the best Asian goal-scorer in the 1st Quarter of XXI Century (476 goals).
He and Aleksandar Đurić (Singapore) are the only 2 players from AFC nations to reach 400+ top level goals in this period.
Kuwaiti Bader Al-Mutawa led Asia’s top scorers in the XXI century among active players after the end of 2025 with 383 goals. still playing at the top domestic level at 41 years.
11 representatives of the AFC countries have reached 300 goals in this century; 6 of them were active in 2025 (highlighted in bold).
DL – domestic leagues (national and regional top tiers),
DC – relevant domestic cups,
ICC – international club competitions,
NT – national team.
Tie-breaker: more international goals (ICC + NT).
Period: from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2025 (for the ranking XXI).
| BEST GOAL-SCORERS | XXI | CENTURY | 2001- | 2025 | ||||||
| AFC | 1st | QUARTER | ||||||||
| Player | Nationality | Career | XXI | XX | Total | DL | DC | ICC | NT | |
| 1 | Ali Ashfaq | Maldives | 2001-2023 | 476 | 476 | 293 | 95 | 30 | 58 | |
| 2 | Aleksandar Đurić | Singapore | 1994-2014 | 425 | 36 | 461 | 304 | 57 | 37 | 27 |
| 3 | Bader Al-Mutawa | Kuwait | 2003- | 383 | 383 | 179 | 88 | 61 | 55 | |
| 4 | Omar Al Somah | Syria | 2008- | 376 | 376 | 250 | 63 | 40 | 23 | |
| 5 | Ali Mabkhout | UAE | 2009- | 360 | 360 | 227 | 25 | 23 | 85 | |
| 6 | Sunil Chhetri | India | 2001- | 357 | 357 | 190 | 52 | 20 | 95 | |
| 7 | Firas Al-Khatib | Syria | 2000-2019 | 350 | 5 | 355 | 186 | 101 | 27 | 36 |
| 8 | Sebastián Tagliabúe | UAE | 2008-2024 | 329 | 329 | 242 | 60 | 22 | 5 | |
| 9 | Sebastián Soria | Qatar | 2002- | 323 | 323 | 220 | 49 | 15 | 39 | |
| 10 | Cristian Gonzáles | Indonesia | 2002-2022 | 318 | 318 | 250 | 49 | 7 | 12 | |
| 11 | Rodrigo Tabata | Qatar | 2002- | 316 | 316 | 218 | 71 | 25 | 2 |