Beiranvand will vie with with Park Ji-sung (Korea Republic), Sami Al Jaber (Saudi Arabia), Tim Cahill (Australia) and Keisuke Honda (Japan) for the title.
Team Melli and Persepolis goalkeeper Beiranvand was shortlisted for the AFC’s Player of the Year in the men’s category, in mid-December 2019.
Over the years a number of Asian players have produced the goods at the FIFA World Cup, lighting up arenas around the globe and providing incredible moments that have gone down in the Continent’s footballing folklore.
With March's Asian Qualifiers postponed until later in the year, the-afc.com turns back the clock to highlight the achievements of five Asian players who have shone brightest on the global showpiece.
The winner will be chosen by a panel of experts combined with the results of the public vote.
Carlos Queiroz’s Iran may have exited at the 2018 group stage, but it’s hard to argue the tournament wasn’t a success for Team Melli, while it’s equally difficult to contest that goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand wasn’t their star man.
The Persepolis shot-stopper shone as Iran edged past Morocco 1-0 in their opener and he then produced another string of excellent saves in a narrow 1-0 loss to Spain, when only a fortuitous Diego Costa goal got the better of the big custodian.
A goal down in their third game against Portugal, Iran conceded a penalty to hand Cristiano Ronaldo the chance to all but seal a place in the next round. In a moment Beiranvand would later describe as the biggest of his life, he dived to his left to deny one of the greatest players of all time and keep his country’s hopes alive.
Karim Ansarifard levelled in stoppage time before Mehdi Taremi missed a glorious chance to seal qualification to the Round of 16 for the first time. It was not to be for the Iranians, but Beiranvand departed Russia having left his mark on the world stage.
Now the fans can tell the-afc.com who is their favorite by voting in a poll which ends at 1800 (UTC 8) on April 15.
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