Two Croatians among UEFA’s Top 10 Players of the Year

Two Croatians among UEFA’s Top 10 Players of the Year

UEFA has revealed the top three nominees for the 2022/23 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award, as well as the top 10 on Thursday. 

Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, and Kevin de Bruyne are the finalists for the award with the winner revealed in Monaco on 31 August. 

Karim Benzema, who moved to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad this season, won the award last year. 

While the winner is still unknown, UEFA has released the list of the top ten, and the players from 4th to 10th place are known. Two Croatian players, Luka Modrić and Marcelo Brozović, have both in the top ten.

Both Modrić and Brozović had another great season. Together, they led the ‘Vatreni’ to a World Cup bronze in Qatar, and Brozović reached the Champions League final with Inter.

Marcelo Brozović (Photo credit: Антон Зайцев/CC BY-SA 3.0)

UEFA Players of the Year

1. Messi/Haaland/de Bruyne
2. Messi/Haaland/de Bruyne
3. Messi/Haaland/de Bruyne
4. Ilkay Gündogan – 129 points
5. Rodri – 110 points
6. Kylian Mbappé – 82 points
7. Luka Modrić – 33 points
8. Marcelo Brozović – 20 points
9. Declan Rice – 14 points
10. Alexis Mac Allister – 12 points

The voting rights for the award were given to coaches whose clubs participated in the group stages of UEFA-organised European competitions, including the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League. 

European national team managers and selected journalists also participated in the voting. Each voter selected three players, with the first choice receiving five points, the second three points, and the third one point.