Erling Haaland has won the UEFA Player of the Year award presented on Thursday ahead of Kevin de Bruyne, and Lionel Messi.
The UEFA Player of the Year award is set to honour the outstanding achievements in European football from the previous season.
The UEFA jury, consisting of respected coaches and journalists chosen by European Sports Media, carefully selected the top three players from the 2022/23 season.
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.
EFA 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)
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)
