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| UEFA Men's Player of the Year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award | ||||
| 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 award | 2011 | |||
| Final award | 2023 | |||
| Current holder |  Erling Haaland(1st award) | |||
| Most wins |  Cristiano Ronaldo(3 awards) | |||
| Website | UEFA.com | |||
| ||||
TheUEFA Men's Player of the Year Award (previously known as theUEFA Best Player in Europe Award) is anassociation football award given to the footballer playing for a men'sfootball club in Europe that is considered the best in the previous season of both club and national team competition. The award, created in 2011 byUEFA in partnership withEuropean 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 theFIFA World Player of the Year Award in 2010 to become theFIFA Ballon d'Or.[4] It also replaced theUEFA Club Footballer of the Year award.[5]
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 theUEFA Women's Player of the Year Award, introduced in 2013.[8]
UEFA partnered with Groupe Amaury to co-organise theBallon d'Or awards from 2024. The partnership means UEFA's awards for the best player and best coach will cease to exist. But UEFA will continue to present the President's Award as well as prizes for the best player in each of their competitions.[9]
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]
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 ofEuropean 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.[10]
In 2020/21 UEFA National Team Coaches were added to the jury[11]
In 2022/23 the Coaches from the UEFA Conference League Group stages were added to the jury[12]
Winner Shortlisted
| Rank | Player | First round[5] | Final round[13] | 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 |
| Rank | Player | First round[14] | Final round[15] | 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 |
| Rank | Player | First round | Final round[16] | 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 |
| Rank | Player | First round[17] | Final round[18] | 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 |
| Rank | Player | First round[19] | Final round[20] | 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 |
| Rank | Player | First round[21] | 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 |
| Rank | Player | First round[22] | 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 |
| Player | 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 |
