Asia's Top Goalscorers

Asia’s Top 5 active goalscorers for flag and country

Earl Averilla
Foxsports.ph
19 October 2018

Scoring for ones national team is an achievement, even for strikers, considering the less frequency of international football matches taking place and the chances of getting called up. But scoring goals for the flag on a relatively regular basis is definitely remarkable.

Without further delay, here are the Top Five active goalscorers in Asia.

5. Chan Siu  Ki (Hong Kong – Striker, 37 goals)

The towering forward was able to translate his club form onto the international stage, amassing a total of 37 goals in 67 competitive appearances for an average of 0.55 goals per game and making him the current top scorer for The Dragons.

Recently experiencing a drop in his goal hauls, if he can regain back a bit of his old lethal self with his current club Hong Kong Pegasus FC, the 33 year old could still have a slight chance of getting a call-up and increase that tally of his national squad.

4. Ismail Abdul-Latif (Bahrain – Striker, 39 goals)

The Bahraini finisher currently plays for Al Muharraq Sports Club. At 32 years old, he can still technically very much increase his tally if ever he can earn himself a national team call-up and break to the starting eleven.

But call-up or not, he has already achieved a notable number of goals scored for Bahrain at 39 goals in 112 caps at a respectable rate of 0.35 goals per game taking into consideration the very competitive West Asian zone.

As an individual player, he is notable with coming up with the occasional “special goals” worthy of making the highlight reel, as evidenced by an overhead strike that he was able to successfully convert for his former club, Al Salmiya SC sometime in 2004.

3. Sebastian Soria (Qatar – Striker, 40 goals)

Sebastian Soria is currently Qatar’s top goalscorer with 40 goals in 119 appearances (also a national record). He is currently playing for Qatari club Al-Rayyan.

At club level, Sebastian holds an Asian footballing record, particularly in the AFC Champions League, for the fastest goal scored in the tournament’s history as he was able to convert within nine seconds of the match when playing for Lekwhiya SC in 2013

At this moment, at 34 years of age, earning call-ups for his country could be at an end for the target man but even if he is not able to increase his tally, it would still take some time for it to be overtaken as the closest number of goals from an active player is only at 22 by Hassan Al Haydos of Al-Sadd.

2. Phil Younghusband (Philippines – Forward/Attacking Midfielder, 51 goals)

The only active player from Southeast Asia who made the list, Phil Younghusband (currently of Filipino club Davao Aguilas Bellmare) is one of the instrumental players who put the Philippines, then considered a minnow, back on the footballing map after decades of being one of the cellar-dwellers of the world.

His upbringing in England as part of Chelsea Youth (along with his brother James, who also plays as midfielder for the Philippines), his addition to the national team in 2005 provided the quality that significantly boosted an already improving squad.

Initially playing mainly as a striker, Phil was able to reinvent himself by adding the ability to play as an attacking midfielder and as a set-piece specialist. And with his current form, it seems that he’s still on-track for further call-ups to represent the Philippines and increase his goal tally of 51 goals and record 99 caps (just one short of another milestone).

Now talk about a player who was discovered eligible to play for the Philippines through a video game.

1. Sunil Chhetri (India – Striker, 65 goals)

Captain Fantastic! Need we say more?

Of course, just to further cement his LIVING LEGEND status. Whether club or country, Sunil Chhetri is a proven goal scorer with an average of a goal every other game for club football and an even more impressive 0.63 goals per game for The Blue Tigers.

In his home country, he is one of the most recognizable personalities and definitely the biggest ambassador for the growth of local football in a nation where cricket is still the dominant team sport.

But with India making waves and continuing to rise as a footballing power in Asia with Sunil at the forefront, capped by the 2019 Asian Cup qualification and the nation’s highest ever FIFA ranking – cracking the top 100, we definitely are witnessing someone who is very much worthy to be considered one of the greats in Asian football.