Qatar captain Akram Afif won the QFA Best Player award for a sixth time during the 2025/2026 Qatar Football Association Awards in Doha.
Qatar national team captain and Al Sadd forward Akram Afif was crowned Best Player for the 2025/2026 season on Monday at the Qatar Football Association Awards, securing the honour for a sixth time.
The Qatar Football Association held its annual awards ceremony at Raffles Doha, where leading figures in Qatari football gathered to celebrate the season’s top performers.
Afif retained the Best Player award after beating Roger Guedes of Al Rayyan and Baghdad Bounedjah of Al Shamal on the shortlist.
Speaking to Doha News, the Al Sadd star described winning the award six times as “very hard” and credited his teammates for helping him maintain a high level across multiple seasons.
“It’s like six seasons you are at your high level, your top level. I’m so proud. The most important thing is that my teammates helped me a lot. I didn’t do it by myself,” Afif said.
The Qatar international added that individual awards were not his main focus, stressing that his priority remains winning trophies with his club and preparing for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which will take place across 16 cities in North America from 11 June to 19 July.
“The award is not my first priority. My first priority is to win with the team, the tournaments, any cups. As you know, we have a very important World Cup coming in one month. We will try our best,” he added.
Mahmoud Abu Nada was named Best Goalkeeper for the 2025/2026 season, beating Jassim Al Hail of Al Rayyan and Meshaal Barsham of Al Sadd to the award.
The 25-year-old Al Rayyan goalkeeper thanked his family, particularly his parents and brother, for supporting him throughout his career.
“Honestly, it is an indescribable feeling to win my first individual award. Praise be to God. I would like to thank my family, especially my father. I would also like to thank my brother Khalid. Honestly, they were my first support,” Abu Nada told Doha News.
He also thanked his teammates, saying their support played a key role in his success.
David Prats of Al Shamal was named Best Coach after finishing ahead of Vicente Moreno of Al Rayyan and Roberto Mancini of Al Sadd.
The Mansour Muftah Top Scorer Award went to Roger Guedes of Al Rayyan after the Brazilian forward scored 21 goals in the Doha Bank Stars League.
Ayoub Al Alawi of Al Gharafa won the Best U-23 Player award, finishing ahead of Mubarak Shanan of Al Duhail and Mohammed Mannaei of Al Shamal.
Match for Hope was named Initiative of the Year.
The final nominees for the 2025/2026 season were announced earlier by the Qatar Football Association Awards Board.