From Messi to Lewandowski, the winners of UEFA's top prize

Since 2016, the KOHA group participates in UEFA's voting for the best player of the year and other awards. So far the maximum TIME points have gone to the footballers who have been declared the best in Europe - Cristiano Ronaldo (twice), Luka Modric, Virgil van Dijk and Robert Lewandowski

The European Football Confederation (UEFA) continues on Thursday in Istanbul the tradition of announcing the best in European football. N'Golo Kante, Jorginho and Kevin de Bruyne compete for the main prize – "The best player of the year" (UEFA Men's Player of the Year). One of the three midfielders who play in the English championship will win the award which UEFA attaches great importance to and which until now has been won by the biggest names in football.

In 2011, UEFA decided to create the "Best Player in Europe" award. For the 2010/11 edition, Lionel Messi was declared the best. In 2012, for the previous edition (2011/12), Andres Iniesta was declared the best. Franck Ribery (2013), Cristiano Ronaldo (2014), Messi (2015), Ronaldo (2016, 2017), Luka Modric (2018), Virgil van Dijk (2019), Robert Lewandowski (2020) followed.

Unlike the "Golden Ball" award, the UEFA competition has not been dominated by Messi and Ronaldo alone. Ronaldo is the only one who has won the award three times, while Messi is the only one who has won it twice. But UEFA has also rewarded other players. Iniesta, Ribery, Modriq, Van Dijk and Lewandowski have been rewarded for their outstanding achievements in their peak years. And now it will be won by Kante, Jorginho or De Bruyne, all three weighty names in international football. For the best of European football, the successes of the players with clubs or representatives and not only the individual performances are mainly taken as a basis. And for that the list of those who have won is longer. UEFA also gives out many other awards, but the one for the Best Player of the Year is the main one. The prize can be won by any player who played in any European team in the previous edition, regardless of which country he is from. So, footballers from other continents are not excluded, provided they have played in European teams. In the beginning, only sports journalists voted for the award, in a format that was valid for the former "Golden Ball". But in 2017, UEFA added 80 coaches of clubs that participated in the group stage of the Champions League and Europa League. This year, in addition to journalists from the 55 UEFA member countries, the coaches of the group stage clubs and also the coaches of the 24 representatives who were part of "Euro 2020" voted. Since 2016, part of the jury that announces the best is the KOHA Group, which represents Kosovo. Until now KOHA has given the maximum votes for the player who was finally declared the best. KOHA, like most, is based on the achievements of the players and not on their individual performances.

The maximum votes went to Ronaldo in 2016 and 2017, to Modric in 2018, to Van Dijk in 2019 and to Lewandowski last year. The UEFA award in international football still does not have the weight of the "Golden Ball" (Ballon d'Or), although the European Confederation is giving it more and more importance. Even in the beginning, UEFA's goal was to revive the "Ballon d'Or", which had merged with FIFA to form the "FIFA Ballon d'Or" (FIFA Golden Ball) award. The award also replaces a previous UEFA award for the best club player. The player's performances at the level of clubs and representatives are taken as a basis. As for the FIFA Ballon d'Or, the award in this format was awarded from 2010 to 2015, for the best player in the world. It has been separated from FIFA along with France Football. It was a combination of the FIFA Best Player Award and the Ballon d'Or, the two most prestigious awards in the world of football.

The award was divided by the votes of the coaches and captains of the representatives and not only by the votes of the journalists as "Golden Ball" until 2009. Messi won the "FIFA Golden Ball" in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Ronaldo won it in the years 2013 and 2014, while Messi again in 2015. Then FIFA and "France Football" decided to once again announce the best. The "FIFA World Player of the Year" award has been awarded since 1991. Since 2016, FIFA has called its award for the best player of the year "The Best FIFA Men's Player”. Ronaldo won it in 2016 and 2017, Modric in 2018, Messi in 2019 and Lewandowski in 2020. But the main individual prize continues to be the Ballon d'Or.

The separation with FIFA has not lost the value of the award that "France Football" had shared for the first time in 1956. After the termination of cooperation with FIFA, the "Ballon d'Or" returned as a single award to in 2016. Cristiano Ronaldo won it in 2016 and 2017. Modric in 2018, Messi in 2019 and Lewandowski in 2020. But the main individual award continues to be the Ballon d'Or. The separation with FIFA has not lost the value of the award that "France Football" had shared for the first time in 1956. After the termination of cooperation with FIFA, the "Ballon d'Or" returned as a single award to in 2016. Cristiano Ronaldo won it in 2016 and 2017. Modric won it in 2018, and Messi in 2019. This year the "Golden Ball" has not been awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was judged unfair to Lewandowski who had had an outstanding year. Although the "Golden Ball" remains the main award in international football, the UEFA award is gaining weight and pretty much defines the race for "The Best" and for the "Ballon d'Or". The player who is announced as the best in Europe on Thursday, will most likely win the other two prestigious international football awards.