♣ UEFA Awards

UEFA’s annual awards ceremony acknowledges sporting excellence and standout achievements, both on-and off-the-field. At the start of each new season, UEFA stages an annual awards ceremony to recognise the best player and coach performances from the previous editions of its mens’ and women’s club competitions.

Since 1998, the UEFA President’s award has also acknowledged an outstanding individual or group achievement, whose impact transcends the game.

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UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award

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), which was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year Award in 2010 to become the FIFA Ballon d'Or. It also replaced the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award.

Cristiano Ronaldo has won the award the most time with 3 awards and is the only player to win it twice in a row. Female players are awarded the UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award, introduced in 2013.

UEFA partnered with Groupe Amaury to co-organise the Ballon 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.

Criteria

According to UEFA, the award "recognise the best player playing for a football club within the territory of a UEFA member association during the previous season." Players are judged by their performances in all competitions, domestic and international, and at club and national team levels throughout the season.

Voting

At the beginning, the award's voting format was a return to the old Ballon d'Or, which was decided purely by journalists.

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. 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.

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.

UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award

The UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award (previously known as the UEFA Best Women's Player in Europe Award) was an association football award given to the female footballer that is considered the best player playing for a football club in Europe during the previous season. The award was announced in 2013, two years after the creation of the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, the equivalent award for male footballers.

Nadine Angerer, Lena Goeßling, and Lotta Schelin made the shortlist for the inaugural year, with Nadine Angerer being selected as the winner on 5 September 2013 during the round of 32 and 16 draws for the 2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League.

Criteria and voting

According to UEFA, players are selected based on their performances that year in "all competitions, both domestic and international, and at club and national team levels". For the inaugural award, players were nominated by the coaches of the twelve national teams that made the group stage of the UEFA Women's Euro 2013 competition and the coaches of the eight club teams that made the quarterfinals of the 2012–13 UEFA Women's Champions League. The nominees were then voted on by eighteen sports journalists that cover women's association football, chosen by trade organization European Sports Media. Each of the voters selected their pick for the top three players, giving their first choice five points, their second choice three points, and their third choice one point. From this initial round of voting, a three player shortlist is selected and the fourth through tenth-place finishers are determined. The winner, runner up, and third-place finisher are selected from the shortlist during a second round of voting, which takes place during the round of 32 and 16 draws for the UEFA Women's Champions League.

UEFA Men's Coach of the Year Award

The UEFA Men's Coach of the Year Award is an association football award given to the manager coaching 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 2020 by UEFA in partnership with European Sports Media (ESM) group

Criteria

According to UEFA, for this award, "coaches in Europe, irrespective of nationality, [are] judged in regard to their performances over the whole season in all competitions – both domestically and internationally – at either club, or national team level."

Voting

80 coaches, from the clubs that participated in the group stages of that year's UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, along with 55 sports journalists selected by the European Sports Media group representing each of the UEFA national associations, provide a list of their three best-ranked coaches from one to three, with the first coach receiving five points, the second three points and the third one point. Coaches are not allowed to vote for themselves. The three coaches with the most points overall are shortlisted, and the winner is announced during the group stage draw of the next season's UEFA Champions League.

UEFA Women's Coach of the Year Award

The UEFA Women's Coach of the Year Award is an association football award given to the manager coaching a women'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 2020 by UEFA in partnership with European Sports Media (ESM) group, was announced alongside the UEFA Men's Coach of the Year Award.

Criteria

According to UEFA, for this award, "coaches in Europe, irrespective of nationality, judged in regard to their performances over the whole season in all competitions – both domestically and internationally – at either club, or national team level."

Voting

For the inaugural award, the eight coaches from the clubs that participated in the quarter-finals of that year's UEFA Women's Champions League, along with 20 sports journalists selected by the European Sports Media group specializing in women's football, provided a list of their three best-ranked coaches from one to three, with the first player receiving five points, the second three points and the third one point. Coaches were not allowed to vote for themselves. The three coaches with the most points overall were shortlisted, and the winner was announced during the group stage draw of the next season's UEFA Champions League.

UEFA Team of the Season (UEFA Fan's Team of the Year)

The UEFA Fan's Team of the Year is a football award given by UEFA through a poll on its official website. This award started in 2001 and allows users of the organization's website to choose their own eleven players and a coach based on their overall performances in European club football and international competitions.

Selection process

Until 2011, the writers at the website had constructed a short-list of sixty footballers and coaches who have performed well in European club competitions, domestic competitions and international tournaments for that particular year. Users then cast their vote of a line-up consisting of eleven players (including a goalkeeper, four defenders, four midfielders, and two forwards) and a coach based on who they believed excelled in European football. After the selection is made, the user also has to select one of the players to be the captain of their team.

The format of the vote was changed in 2012 – now users first choose their preferred formation (4–4–2, 3–5–2, 3–4–3, 4–3–3 or 5–3–2), and then choose the relevant number of players for each position. The voters have a choice between 4 goalkeepers, 12 defenders, 12 midfielders and 12 forwards. The voting for best coach was discontinued.

After the votes are cast, they are tallied and the final team is announced on the UEFA website.

Appearance records

The player with the most appearances in the team is Cristiano Ronaldo, having appeared fifteen times. Second is Lionel Messi, having appeared twelve times. Sergio Ramos has the third-most appearances with nine, which is also the record for a defender. The most consecutive appearances in the team is fourteen for Cristiano Ronaldo (2007–2020), followed by Sergio Ramos (2012–2018) and Lionel Messi (2014–2020) with seven each, and Iker Casillas (2007–2012) with six.

The teams with the most player appearances (not including manager appearances) are Real Madrid and Barcelona with 49, followed by Bayern Munich (21) and Juventus (20). Barcelona is the team with the most players selected in a single season, with six players in both 2009 and 2010. The only other teams with more than three players in one season are Bayern Munich (four in 2013 and five in both 2014 and 2020), Liverpool (five in 2019), and Real Madrid (five in both 2017 and 2018 and four in 2003, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016).

The manager with the most appearances is José Mourinho, with four appearances (one with Internazionale, two with Porto and one with Chelsea). He is followed by Alex Ferguson, who has two appearances.

UEFA Club Football Awards

In recognition of the best players in the UEFA Champions League each year, UEFA gives out several awards to the most outstanding performers of the European club football season. The awards are presented in August each year at a special gala in Monaco; previously, the ceremony would coincide with the UEFA Super Cup, but since the Super Cup was moved to early August in 2014, the UEFA awards ceremony has been combined with the UEFA Champions League group stage draw. Internazionale and Real Madrid are the only teams whose players won all of the available awards in the same season (in the 2009–10 and 2017–18 seasons, respectively).

For the 2010–11 season, the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award was replaced by the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, but the positional awards returned in 2016–17. Positional awards for players in the UEFA Women's Champions League were introduced in 2019–20.

Best Forward

Best Midfielder

Best Defender

Best Goalkeeper

UEFA President's Award

The UEFA President's Award recognises outstanding achievements, professional excellence and exemplary personal qualities. The accolade, first introduced by UEFA in 1998, is usually awarded annually to a football personality who is deemed to have advanced the game's development and success. Recently, Eric Cantona has become infamous for his bizarre acceptance speech for the 2019 UEFA Presidents Award. Dressed in a flat cap, he began by quoting William Shakespeare's King Lear – "As flies to wanton boys we are for the gods" – before referencing science, war and crime.

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