Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, and Kevin de Bruyne were named to the UEFA Best Player Awards’ Top 3 for the 2022-2023 season.
UEFA has formed a panel to select a player from a long list of club and national team players for the 2022-2023 season.The council is made up of coaches from clubs competing in the group stages of the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League in 2023-2024, as well as coaches from UEFA national teams and 55 journalists.Each coach and journalist chooses three players from the list, receiving five, three, and one points in that order.
Messi, Haaland, and De Bruyne achieved the highest ratings, allowing them to make the Top 3, but UEFA has not revealed their exact numbers.The winners will be announced on August 31 at the Champions League group draw in Monaco.
Ilkay Gundogan, a midfielder, is fourth with 129 points, while Rodri is close behind with 110.Kylian Mbappe is only ranked sixth in the poll, with 82 points.Luka Modric has 33 points, Marcelo Brozovic has 20 points, Declan Rice has 14 points, Alexis MacAllister has 12 points, and Jesus Navas has 6 points.Only the 11 players listed above received points from the board.
Messi received the UEFA award for the 2010-2011 season.Cristiano Ronaldo has won the award three times, in 2014, 2016, and 2017, while Messi has won it twice, in 2011 and 2015. Kevin de Bruyne has finished second in the last three seasons, behind Robert Lewandowski, Jorginho, and Karim Benzema.For the first time, Haaland made the Top 3.
During the 2022-2023 season, De Bruyne and Haaland helped Man City win the treble, while Messi helped PSG win Ligue 1 and, more importantly, Argentina win the World Cup. As a result, Messi is the best candidate for the trophy in the 2022-2023 season.
On August 17, UEFA also released the Top 3 nominations for the best male coach of the year, which included Pep Guardiola, Luciano Spalletti, and Simone Inzaghi.This award is much more predictable because Guardiola is practically guaranteed to win it.Lionel Scaloni, Argentina’s coach, was not included on the list since he was not a member of UEFA.The tournament’s requirements are players or coaches on the payroll of a UEFA team or club.