The Vietnamese striker who plays for Binh Duong FC is one of three Southeast Asian players to compete for the award. These other two regional nominees are Thai defender Theerathon Bunmathan who plays for Buriram United FC and Singaporean striker Ikhsan Fandi who plays for BG Pathum United FC.

Among other nominees are many superstars such as Son Heung-min of the Republic of Korea, Kaoru Mitota of Japan, Mehdi Taremi of Iran and Takehiro Tomiyasu of Japan.

According to Titan Sports, Tien Linh played steadily and won the title of top scorer of the AFF Cup 2022. In the historic 3-1 victory over China in the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, the Vietnamese striker performed well, scoring a goal to extend Vietnam’s lead.

Tien Linh did a good job at the SEA Games 2022 held in May 2022, helping the Vietnam U22 side win the gold medal for the second time in a row.

At Binh Duong FC, he scored nine goals for the club in the V-League 2022, joining the group of local players who scored the most goals in the tournament.

For his impressive performances, Tien Linh has been nominated for the Vietnam Golden Ball Award 2022 along with four other nominees.

The Best Footballer in Asia Award has been held since 2013 by Chinese media company Titan Sports. Son Heung-min (RoK) won this award in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, while the award also presented to former midfielder Keisuke Honda of Japan in 2013 and striker Shinji Okazaki of Japan in 2016.