The UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award (previously known as the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award) is an association football award given to the footballer playing for a men's football club in Europe that is considered the best in the previous season of both club and national team competition. The award, created in 2011 by UEFA in partnership with European Sports Media (ESM) group, was initially aimed at reviving the European Footballer of the Year Award (Ballon d'Or),[2][3] which was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year Award in 2010 to become the FIFA Ballon d'Or.[4] It also replaced the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award.[5]
| UEFA Men's Player of the Year | |
|---|---|
.jpg) 2023 winner Erling Haaland | |
| Sponsored by | ESM[1] |
| Presented by | UEFA |
| Formerly called | UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (1998–2010) UEFA Best Player in Europe (2011–16) |
| First awarded | 2011 |
| Current holder |  Erling Haaland(1st award) |
| Most awards |  Cristiano Ronaldo(3 awards) |
| Website | UEFA.com |
Cristiano Ronaldo has won the award the most time with 3 awards and is the only player to win it twice in a row.[6][7] Female players are awarded the UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award, introduced in 2013.[8]
Criteria
According to UEFA, the award "recognise[s] the best player playing for a football club within the territory of a UEFA member association during the previous season."[2] Players are judged by their performances in all competitions, domestic and international, and at club and national team levels throughout the season.[2]
Voting
At the beginning, the award's voting format was a return to the old Ballon d'Or, which was decided purely by journalists.[3]
In the first round of voting, 53 sports journalists representing each of the UEFA national associations provided a list of their three best-ranked players from one to three, with the first player receiving five points, the second three points and the third one point. The three players with the most points overall were shortlisted.[2] The jury comprised renowned sports journalists representing each of UEFA's national associations, from RTV Albania to the Daily Post in Wales via members of European Sports Media, with whom UEFA collaborated on this award. The final vote, also by the journalists, then took place live via electronic voting during the presentation ceremony.[2]
In 2017, however, UEFA added 80 coaches, from the clubs that participated in the group stages of that year's UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, to its jury. The amount of journalists selected by European Sports Media was also increased to 55, representing each of UEFA's member associations.[9]
Award history
Winners
| Season | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| UEFA Best Player in Europe Award | ||
| 2010–11 |  Lionel Messi |  Barcelona |
| 2011–12 | Andrés Iniesta | Barcelona |
| 2012–13 |  Franck Ribéry |  Bayern Munich |
| 2013–14 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
| 2014–15 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona |
| 2015–16 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
| UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award | ||
| 2016–17 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid |
| 2017–18 |  Luka Modrić | Real Madrid |
| 2018–19 |  Virgil van Dijk |  Liverpool |
| 2019–20 |  Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich |
| 2020–21 |  Jorginho | Chelsea |
| 2021–22 | Karim Benzema | Real Madrid |
| 2022–23 | Erling Haaland | Manchester City |
Finalists
Winner Shortlisted
2010–11
| Rank | Player | First round[5] | Final round[10] | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi | – | 38 | Barcelona |
| 2 | Xavi | – | 11 | Barcelona |
| 3 | Cristiano Ronaldo | – | 3 | Real Madrid |
| 4 | Andrés Iniesta | 33 | – | Barcelona |
| 5 |  Radamel Falcao | 17 | – | Porto |
| 6 | Wayne Rooney | 15 | – | Manchester United |
| 7 |  Nemanja Vidić | 5 | – | Manchester United |
| 8 |  Zlatan Ibrahimović | 4 | – | Milan |
| Gerard Piqué | – | Barcelona | ||
| 10 | Manuel Neuer | 3 | – | Schalke 04 |
2011–12
| Rank | Player | First round[11] | Final round[12] | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrés Iniesta | – | 19 | Barcelona |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | – | 17 | Barcelona |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | – | Real Madrid | ||
| 4 | Andrea Pirlo | 90 | – | Juventus |
| 5 | Xavi | 57 | – | Barcelona |
| 6 | Iker Casillas | 53 | – | Real Madrid |
| 7 |  Didier Drogba | 31 | – | Chelsea |
| 8 |  Petr Čech | 14 | – | Chelsea |
| Radamel Falcao | – | Atlético Madrid | ||
| 10 | Mesut Özil | 10 | – | Real Madrid |
2012–13
| Rank | Player | First round | Final round[13] | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Franck Ribéry | – | 36 | Bayern Munich |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | – | 14 | Barcelona |
| 3 | Cristiano Ronaldo | – | 3 | Real Madrid |
| 4 | Arjen Robben | 57 | – | Bayern Munich |
| 5 | Robert Lewandowski | 39 | – | Borussia Dortmund |
| 6 | Thomas Müller | 38 | – | Bayern Munich |
| 7 | Bastian Schweinsteiger | 32 | – | Bayern Munich |
| 8 |  Gareth Bale | 24 | – | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 9 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | 14 | – | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 10 | Robin van Persie | 10 | – | Manchester United |
2013–14
| Rank | Player | First round[14] | Final round[15] | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | – | 26 | Real Madrid |
| 2 | Manuel Neuer | – | 19 | Bayern Munich |
| 3 | Arjen Robben | – | 9 | Bayern Munich |
| 4 | Thomas Müller | 39 | – | Bayern Munich |
| 5 | Philipp Lahm | 24 | – | Bayern Munich |
| Lionel Messi | – | Barcelona | ||
| 7 | James Rodríguez | 16 | – | Monaco |
| 8 |  Luis Suárez | 13 | – | Liverpool |
| 9 | Ángel Di María | 12 | – | Real Madrid |
| 10 | Diego Costa | 8 | – | Atlético Madrid |
2014–15
| Rank | Player | First round[16] | Final round[17] | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Messi | – | 49 | Barcelona |
| 2 | Luis Suárez | – | 3 | Barcelona |
| 3 | Cristiano Ronaldo | – | 2 | Real Madrid |
| 4 | Gianluigi Buffon | 24 | – | Juventus |
| 5 |  Neymar | 23 | – | Barcelona |
| 6 |  Eden Hazard | 21 | – | Chelsea |
| 7 | Andrea Pirlo | 12 | – | Juventus |
| 8 |  Arturo Vidal | 11 | – | Juventus |
| 9 | Carlos Tevez | 8 | – | Juventus |
| 10 | Paul Pogba | 5 | – | Juventus |
2015–16
| Rank | Player | First round[18] | Final round[6] | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | – | 40 | Real Madrid |
| 2 | Antoine Griezmann | – | 8 | Atlético Madrid |
| 3 | Gareth Bale | – | 7 | Real Madrid |
| 4 | Luis Suárez | 29 | – | Barcelona |
| 5 | Lionel Messi | 25 | – | Barcelona |
| 6 | Gianluigi Buffon | 19 | – | Juventus |
| 7 | Pepe | 9 | – | Real Madrid |
| 8 | Manuel Neuer | 6 | – | Bayern Munich |
| 9 | Toni Kroos | 5 | – | Real Madrid |
| 10 | Thomas Müller | 2 | – | Bayern Munich |
2016–17
| Rank | Player | First round[19] | Final round[7] | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | – | 482 | Real Madrid |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | – | 141 | Barcelona |
| 3 | Gianluigi Buffon | – | 109 | Juventus |
| 4 | Luka Modrić | – | Real Madrid | |
| 5 | Toni Kroos | – | Real Madrid | |
| 6 | Paulo Dybala | – | Juventus | |
| 7 | Sergio Ramos | – | Real Madrid | |
| 8 | Kylian Mbappé | – | Monaco | |
| 9 | Robert Lewandowski | – | Bayern Munich | |
| 10 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | – | Manchester United |
2017–18
| Rank | Player | Points[20] | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luka Modrić | 313 | Real Madrid |
| 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 223 | Real Madrid |
| 3 |  Mohamed Salah | 134 | Liverpool |
| 4 | Antoine Griezmann | 72 | Atlético Madrid |
| 5 | Lionel Messi | 55 | Barcelona |
| 6 | Kylian Mbappé | 43 | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 7 | Kevin De Bruyne | 28 | Manchester City |
| 8 | Raphaël Varane | 23 | Real Madrid |
| 9 | Eden Hazard | 15 | Chelsea |
| 10 | Sergio Ramos | 12 | Real Madrid |
2018–19
| Rank | Player | Points[21] | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virgil van Dijk | 305 | Liverpool |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | 207 | Barcelona |
| 3 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 74 | Juventus |
| 4 | Alisson | 57 | Liverpool |
| 5 |  Sadio Mané | 51 | Liverpool |
| 6 | Mohamed Salah | 49 | Liverpool |
| 7 | Eden Hazard | 38 | Chelsea |
| 8 | Frenkie de Jong | 27 | Ajax |
| Matthijs de Ligt | Ajax | ||
| 10 | Raheem Sterling | 12 | Manchester City |
2019–20
| Rank | Player | Points[22] | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Lewandowski | 477 | Bayern Munich |
| 2 | Kevin De Bruyne | 90 | Manchester City |
| 3 | Manuel Neuer | 66 | Bayern Munich |
| 4 | Lionel Messi | 53 | Barcelona |
| Neymar | Paris Saint-Germain | ||
| 6 | Thomas Müller | 41 | Bayern Munich |
| 7 | Kylian Mbappé | 39 | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 8 | Thiago | 27 | Bayern Munich |
| 9 | Joshua Kimmich | 26 | Bayern Munich |
| 10 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 25 | Juventus |
2020–21
| Rank | Player | Points[23] | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jorginho | 175 | Chelsea |
| 2 | Kevin De Bruyne | 167 | Manchester City |
| 3 | N'Golo Kanté | 160 | Chelsea |
| 4 | Lionel Messi | 148 | Barcelona |
| 5 | Robert Lewandowski | 140 | Bayern Munich |
| 6 | Gianluigi Donnarumma | 49 | Milan |
| 7 | Kylian Mbappé | 31 | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 8 | Raheem Sterling | 18 | Manchester City |
| 9 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 16 | Juventus |
| 10 | Erling Haaland | 15 | Borussia Dortmund |
2021–22
2022–23
| Rank | Player | Points[26][27] | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erling Haaland | 352 | Manchester City |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | 227 | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 3 | Kevin De Bruyne | 225 | Manchester City |
| 4 | İlkay Gündoğan | 129 | Manchester City |
| 5 | Rodri | 110 | Manchester City |
| 6 | Kylian Mbappé | 82 | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 7 | Luka Modrić | 33 | Real Madrid |
| 8 | Marcelo Brozović | 20 | Inter Milan |
| 9 | Declan Rice | 14 | West Ham United |
| 10 | Alexis Mac Allister | 12 | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| 11 | Jesús Navas | 6 | Sevilla |
By player
| Player | Winner | Second place | Third place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Lionel Messi | 2 | 5 | — |
| Andrés Iniesta | 1 | — | — |
| Franck Ribéry | 1 | — | — |
| Luka Modrić | 1 | — | — |
| Virgil van Dijk | 1 | — | — |
| Robert Lewandowski | 1 | — | — |
| Jorginho | 1 | — | — |
| Karim Benzema | 1 | — | — |
| Erling Haaland | 1 | — | — |
| Kevin De Bruyne | — | 3 | 1 |
| Manuel Neuer | — | 1 | 1 |
| Xavi | — | 1 | — |
| Luis Suárez | — | 1 | — |
| Antoine Griezmann | — | 1 | — |
| Arjen Robben | — | – | 1 |
| Gareth Bale | — | – | 1 |
| Gianluigi Buffon | — | — | 1 |
| Mohamed Salah | — | — | 1 |
| N'Golo Kante | — | — | 1 |
| Thibaut Courtois | — | — | 1 |