UEFA announced its Men’s and Women’s Players of the Year for 2023 at the 2023/24 Champions League group-stage draw ceremony.
Lionel Messi was once again in the running for the men’s prize and aiming to pull level with long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo by clinching the award for the third time, after inspiring Argentina to World Cup glory and collecting another Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain before moving on to Inter Miami.
However, both he and fellow nominee Kevin De Bruyne lost out to Erling Haaland. The Norwegian striker had a sensational debut campaign in England in 2022/23, helping Manchester City to a first ever Champions League crown and treble.
Haaland racked up 52 goals in 53 appearances across all competitions, with 12 in 11 in Europe’s premier club competition.
Alexia Putellas’ two-year reign as the women’s winner came to an end, but to a fellow Spanish World Cup winner succeeded her.
Aitana Bonmati took the award, which quickly followed her Golden Ball prize at the World Cup earlier this month, where she struck three goals and assisted two more.
Bonmati excelled with the all-conquering Barcelona side last season before starring alongside Olga Carmona, the World Cup final match-winner, who was also nominated for UEFA’s award. Australia and Chelsea star Sam Kerr rounded out the contenders.
Below are two sets of nominees, the initial shortlist of players selected by the UEFA technical study group, and a full list of previous winners.
MORE: The records Erling Haaland set for Manchester City in 2022/23
UEFA Awards 2023: List of nominees for Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year
UEFA Men’s Player of the Year
- Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City & Belgium)
- Winner: Erling Haaland (Manchester City & Norway)
- Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain & Argentina)
Shortlist: 4th Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City & Germany: 129 points), 5th Rodri (Manchester City & Spain: 110), 6th Kylian Mbappe (PSG & France: 82), 7th Luka Modric (Real Madrid & Croatia: 33), 8th Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan & Croatia: 20), 9th Declan Rice (West Ham & England: 14), Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton & Argentina: 12), Jesus Navas (Sevilla & Spain: 6)
Getty Images
UEFA Women’s Player of the Year
- Winner: Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona & Spain)
- Olga Carmona (Real Madrid & Spain)
- Sam Kerr (Chelsea & Australia)
Shortlist: 4th Mary Earps (Manchester United & England: 55 points), =5th Salma Paralluelo (Barcelona & Spain: 48), =5th Alexandra Popp (Wolfsburg & Germany: 48), 7th Keira Walsh (Barcelona & England: 24), Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona & Norway: 11), 9th Rachel Daly (Aston Villa & England: 8), 10th Ewa Pajor (Wolfsburg & Poland: 5), 11th Kadidiatou Diani (PSG & France: 4)
Getty Images
Who has won the most UEFA Player of the Year awards?
Messi won the inaugural edition of the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, which was renamed as the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award in 2016/17, when Cristiano Ronaldo won his third to go out in front on the all-time list.
Alexia Putellas‘ two wins puts her level with Pernille Harder, who also finished as runner-up to Lieke Martens in 2016/17.
? The nominees for UEFA’s 2022/23 Women’s Player of the Year have been announced.
We take a look at the case for each of the three candidates: ⤵️#UEFAawards
— UEFA (@UEFA) August 26, 2023
UEFA Awards: List of previous winners
Full list of UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award winners
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| 2010/11 | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) | Xavi (Barcelona) | Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) |
| 2011/12 | Andres Iniesta (Barcelona) | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) & Cristiano Ronaldo | — |
| 2012/13 | Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) | Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) |
| 2013/14 | Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) | Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) | Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich) |
| 2014/15 | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) | Luis Suarez (Barcelona) | Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) |
| 2015/16 | Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) | Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) | Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) |
| 2016/17 | Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) | Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) |
| 2017/18 | Luka Modric (Real Madrid) | Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) | Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) |
| 2018/19 | Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) | Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) |
| 2019/20 | Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) | Kevin De Bruyne (Man City) | Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) |
| 2020/21 | Jorginho (Chelsea) | Kevin De Bruyne (Man City) | N’Golo Kante (Chelsea) |
| 2021/22 | Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) | Kevin De Bruyne (Man City) | Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) |
?#UCL pic.twitter.com/dQxRmchCTc
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 25, 2023
Full list of UEFA Women’s Player of the Year award winners
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| 2012/13 | Nadine Angerer (Frankfurt) | Lena Goessling (Wolfsburg) | Lotta Schelin (Lyon) |
| 2013/14 | Nadine Kessler (Wolfsburg) | Martina Muller (Wolfsburg) | Nilla Fischer (Wolfsburg) |
| 2014/15 | Celia Sasic (Frankfurt) | Amandine Henry (Lyon) | Dzsenifer Marozsan (Frankfurt) |
| 2015/16 | Ada Hegerberg (Lyon) | Amandine Henry (Lyon) | Dzsenifer Marozsan (Frankfurt) |
| 2016/17 | Lieke Martens (Barcelona) | Pernille Harder (Wolfsburg) | Dzsenifer Marozsan (Lyon) |
| 2017/18 | Pernille Harder (Wolfsburg) | Ada Hegerberg (Lyon) | Amandine Henry (Lyon) |
| 2018/19 | Lucy Bronze (Lyon) | Ada Hegerberg (Lyon) | Amandine Henry (Lyon) |
| 2019/20 | Pernille Harder (Wolfsburg) | Wendie Renard (Lyon) | Lucy Bronze (Lyon) |
| 2020/21 | Alexia Putellas (Barcelona) | Jenni Hermoso (Barcelona) | Lieke Martens (Barcelona) |
| 2021/22 | Alexia Putellas (Barcelona) | Beth Mead (Arsenal) | Lena Oberdorf (Wolfsburg) |
| 2022/23 | Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona) | Sam Kerr (Chelsea) | Olga Carmona (Real Madrid) |
What are the UEFA Awards?
The UEFA Awards rebranded in 2010, replacing the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year gala to also recognise performances in international colours.
An initial shortlist of players is selected by the UEFA technical study group based on their performances across the previous season.
A jury comprising the coaches of clubs that qualified for the group stages of the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League in 2022/23 voted for the three men’s nominees, along with coaches of men’s senior national teams under UEFA’s jurisdiction and a group of journalists selected by European Sports Media (ESM).
A similar jury of ESM-selected journalists, national-team managers and coaches from teams who qualified for the Champions League group stages in 2022/23 voted to select the three women’s nominees.