2023 UEFA Awards nominees revealed: Who are the favourites to win?

The nominees for the 2023 UEFA awards have been revealed, with the best men’s player and best coach nominees revealed. The nominations have been based on the individual performances of the players for club and country. 

According to UEFA, the nominations have been derived after voting from a “jury composed of the coaches of the clubs which played in the group stages of the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League, together with the coaches of the men’s national teams of UEFA’s member associations. A group of journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) were also part of the jury.” 

2023 UEFA awards: Who are the favourites to win? 

UEFA Men’s Best Player Award 

Nominees: 

• Lionel Messi 
• Kevin De Bruyne
• Erling Haaland

Favourite to win: Erling Haaland

Although many will have Lionel Messi as the favourite to win the award after his World Cup win with Argentina and Ligue 1 win with PSG, he was unable to win the Champions League and the Coupe de France. 

Kevin De Bruyne played an important part in Manchester City’s season, but simply did not match his Norwegian teammate in terms of contributions. 

Erling Haaland, on the other hand, broke the record for the most goals scored in a single Premier League season in his first year in England. He won a historic treble with Manchester City and has also won the UEFA Super Cup now. 

The Norwegian striker is the European Golden Boot winner and stands the best chance of winning the Men’s Best Player Award in 2023. 

UEFA Best Coach Award 

Nominees: 

• Pep Guardiola 
• Simeone Inzaghi 
• Luciano Spalletti

Favourite to win: Pep Guardiola 

After spending the better part of a decade trying to win the Champions League trophy with Manchester City, Pep Guardiola has finally achieved his goal. And he did so in emphatic fashion, winning the Premier League and the FA Cup as well. 

Although Luciano Spalletti led Napoli to their third ever Serie A title, and Simeone Inzaghi led Inter to a domestic double and the Champions League final, it simply doesn’t match up to Guardiola.