European Sports Media

The European Sports Media (ESM), formerly European Sports Magazines, is an association of football-related publications in Europe.

European Sports Media

Abbreviation	ESM
Formation	9 June 1989; 35 years ago (1989-06-09)
Founded at	Barcelona, Spain
Type	Football-based journalistic body
Region	Europe (UEFA)
Membership	14 magazines
Website	www.eusm.eu
Formerly called	European Sports Magazines

Members

European Sports Media was established in 1989 as an international body for football journalism.^[1] Its nine founding members were: A Bola (Portuguese), Don Balón (Spanish), Sport/Foot Magazine (Belgium), La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italian), kicker (German), Onze Mondial (French), Sport (Switzerland), Voetbal International (Dutch), World Soccer (English). ESM membership has varied over time. Former members also include France Football.^[2]

Current members

• A Bola
• Fanatik
• Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
• La Gazzetta dello Sport
• kicker
• Marca
• nemzeti sport
• So Foot
• Sport Express
• Sport Magazine
• telesport
• Tipsbladet
• Voetbal International
• World Soccer

Awards

ESM presents the following awards:

• European Golden Shoe. Since the 1996–97 season, ESM annually rewards Europe's most prolific striker with the European Golden Shoe.^[1]
• UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award & UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award. Since 2011, in partnership with UEFA, ESM handles the voting and administration for the UEFA Best Men's Player and Women's Player in Europe Awards, which is awarded annually to the outstanding men's and women's players of the European season.^[1][3]
• UEFA Men's Coach of the Year Award & UEFA Women's Coach of the Year Award. Since 2020, in partnership with UEFA, ESM handles the voting and administration for the UEFA Best Men's Coach and Women's Coach in Europe Awards, which is awarded annually to the outstanding men's and women's coaches of the European season.^[4]
• ESM Team of the Season. After selecting a Team of the Season for 1994–95, ESM instituted the monthly ESM 11. Each of its members selects the 11 best players in the European leagues each month from September to May. The players who most often appear in those teams are elected into the ESM Team of the Season.^[1][2]

ESM Team of the Season

1990s

Season	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
1994–95[2]	Vítor Baía	Paolo Maldini Matthias Sammer Frank Rijkaard Danny Blind	Gianfranco Zola Jari Litmanen Michael Laudrup	Iván Zamorano Alan Shearer Jürgen Klinsmann
1995–96[2]	Edwin van der Sar	Paolo Maldini Frank de Boer Laurent Blanc Danny Blind	Alessandro Del Piero Raí Jari Litmanen Mehmet Scholl	George Weah Eric Cantona
1996–97[2]	Angelo Peruzzi	Roberto Carlos Fernando Hierro Ciro Ferrara Jocelyn Angloma	Raúl Alessandro Del Piero Clarence Seedorf Luis Enrique	Ronaldo Davor Šuker
1997–98[2]	Angelo Peruzzi	Roberto Carlos Fernando Hierro Laurent Blanc Gary Neville	Alessandro Del Piero Zinedine Zidane Fernando Redondo Luís Figo	Ronaldo Christian Vieri
1998–99[2]	Carlos Roa	Bixente Lizarazu Jaap Stam Laurent Blanc Lilian Thuram	Rivaldo Siniša Mihajlović Stefan Effenberg David Beckham	Raúl Gabriel Batistuta
1999–2000[2]	Oliver Kahn	Roberto Carlos Paolo Maldini Siniša Mihajlović Jocelyn Angloma	Rivaldo Juan Sebastián Verón Roy Keane Luís Figo	Raúl Andriy Shevchenko

2000s

Season	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
2000–01[2]	Oliver Kahn	Roberto Carlos Sami Hyypiä Alessandro Nesta Jocelyn Angloma	Pavel Nedvěd Francesco Totti Mehmet Scholl Gaizka Mendieta	Michael Owen Hernán Crespo
2001–02[2]	Francesco Toldo	Roberto Carlos Walter Samuel Lúcio Carles Puyol	Freddie Ljungberg Zinedine Zidane Michael Ballack Rubén Baraja	Ruud van Nistelrooy Christian Vieri
2002–03[2]	Gianluigi Buffon	Paolo Maldini Daniel Van Buyten Carles Puyol Lilian Thuram	Roberto Carlos Pavel Nedvěd Zinedine Zidane	Christian Vieri Mateja Kežman Roy Makaay
2003–04[2]	Timo Hildebrand	Roberto Carlos Walter Samuel Roberto Ayala Paulo Ferreira	Ronaldinho Francesco Totti Zinedine Zidane Ludovic Giuly	Andriy Shevchenko Thierry Henry
2004–05[2]	Petr Čech	Fabio Cannavaro John Terry Carles Puyol	Frank Lampard Mark van Bommel Deco Ronaldinho	Arjen Robben Samuel Eto'o Andriy Shevchenko
2005–06[2]	Petr Čech	Carles Puyol Lúcio Cris	Ronaldinho Frank Lampard Esteban Cambiasso Juninho	Lionel Messi Samuel Eto'o Luca Toni
2006–07[5]	Grégory Coupet	Marco Materazzi Nemanja Vidić Dani Alves	Dejan Stanković Francesco Totti Juninho Cristiano Ronaldo	Zlatan Ibrahimović Didier Drogba Frédéric Kanouté
2007–08[6]	Iker Casillas	Sergio Ramos Christian Panucci Rio Ferdinand William Gallas	Cristiano Ronaldo Cesc Fàbregas Franck Ribéry	Lionel Messi Zlatan Ibrahimović Fernando Torres
2008–09[7]	Edwin van der Sar	Dani Alves John Terry Maicon Nemanja Vidić	Lionel Messi Xavi Steven Gerrard	Vedad Ibišević Samuel Eto'o Grafite
2009–10 [citation needed]	Júlio César	John Terry Maicon Lúcio	Dani Alves Cesc Fàbregas Frank Lampard Wesley Sneijder	Lionel Messi Arjen Robben Wayne Rooney

2010s

Season	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
2010–11[8]	Víctor Valdés	Dani Alves Mats Hummels Nemanja Vidić Gerard Piqué	Xavi Andrés Iniesta Nuri Şahin	Lionel Messi Cristiano Ronaldo Samuel Eto'o
2011–12[9]	Manuel Neuer	Vincent Kompany Dani Alves Sergio Ramos Mats Hummels	Xavi Shinji Kagawa Andrea Pirlo	Lionel Messi Cristiano Ronaldo Robin van Persie
2012–13[10]	Manuel Neuer	Philipp Lahm Dante Giorgio Chiellini	Bastian Schweinsteiger Thomas Müller İlkay Gündoğan	Gareth Bale Lionel Messi Zlatan Ibrahimović Cristiano Ronaldo
2013–14[11]	Thibaut Courtois	Gerard Piqué Pepe Medhi Benatia David Alaba	Philipp Lahm Yaya Touré Arturo Vidal	Cristiano Ronaldo Luis Suárez Zlatan Ibrahimović
2014–15[12]	Manuel Neuer	Branislav Ivanović Sergio Ramos Giorgio Chiellini Gerard Piqué	Arjen Robben Eden Hazard Cesc Fàbregas	Lionel Messi Cristiano Ronaldo Luis Suárez
2015–16[13]	Keylor Navas	Marcelo Diego Godín Gerard Piqué Filipe Luís	Paul Pogba Ángel Di María N'Golo Kanté	Luis Suárez Gonzalo Higuaín Lionel Messi
2016–17[14]	Gianluigi Buffon	Marcelo Sergio Ramos David Luiz Leonardo Bonucci	N'Golo Kanté Thiago Paulo Dybala	Cristiano Ronaldo Lionel Messi Edinson Cavani
2017–18[15]	Marc-André ter Stegen	Jordi Alba Samuel Umtiti Nicolás Otamendi Giorgio Chiellini	David Silva Andrés Iniesta Kevin De Bruyne	Neymar Mohamed Salah Lionel Messi
2018–19[16]	Marc-André ter Stegen	Jordi Alba Gerard Piqué Virgil Van Dijk Joshua Kimmich	Marco Reus Paul Pogba Eden Hazard	Cristiano Ronaldo Sadio Mané Lionel Messi
2019–20[17]	Marc-André ter Stegen	Andy Robertson Dayot Upamecano Virgil Van Dijk Trent Alexander-Arnold	Ángel Di María Jordan Henderson Kevin De Bruyne	Erling Haaland Robert Lewandowski Lionel Messi

2020s

Season	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
2020–21[18]	Jan Oblak	Achraf Hakimi Rúben Dias John Stones João Cancelo	Kevin De Bruyne İlkay Gündoğan Bruno Fernandes	Lionel Messi Robert Lewandowski Karim Benzema
2021–22[19]	Thibaut Courtois	João Cancelo Antonio Rüdiger Virgil van Dijk Trent Alexander-Arnold	Bernardo Silva Luka Modrić Kevin De Bruyne	Karim Benzema Robert Lewandowski Mohamed Salah
2022–23[20]	Marc-André ter Stegen	Théo Hernandez Kim Min-jae Éder Militão Giovanni Di Lorenzo	Kevin De Bruyne Martin Ødegaard	Kylian Mbappé Erling Haaland Victor Osimhen Lionel Messi
2023–24[21]	Yann Sommer	Álex Grimaldo Virgil van Dijk Antonio Rüdiger Dani Carvajal	Vinícius Júnior Jude Bellingham Florian Wirtz	Harry Kane Kylian Mbappé Lautaro Martínez

By player

Lionel Messi (left) with 15 selections is the all-time record appearance maker of ESM's Team of the Season.

Wins	Player	First	Last
15	Lionel Messi	2005–06	2022–23
9	Cristiano Ronaldo	2006–07	2018–19
7	Roberto Carlos	1996–97	2003–04
5	Dani Alves	2006–07	2011–12
	Gerard Piqué	2010–11	2018–19
	Kevin De Bruyne	2017–18	2022–23
4	Paolo Maldini	1994–95	2002–03
	Zinedine Zidane	1997–98	2003–04
	Carles Puyol	2001–02	2005–06
	Samuel Eto'o	2004–05	2010–11
	Zlatan Ibrahimović	2006–07	2013–14
	Sergio Ramos	2007–08	2016–17
	Marc-André ter Stegen	2017–18	2022–23
	Virgil van Dijk	2018–19	2023–24
3	Alessandro Del Piero	1995–96	1997–98
	Laurent Blanc	1995–96	1998–99
	Raúl	1996–97	1999–00
	Jocelyn Angloma	1996–97	2000–01
	Christian Vieri	1997–98	2002–03
	Andriy Shevchenko	1999–00	2004–05
	Francesco Totti	2000–01	2006–07
	Lúcio	2001–02	2009–10
	Ronaldinho	2003–04	2005–06
	Frank Lampard	2004–05	2009–10
	John Terry	2004–05	2009–10
	Arjen Robben	2004–05	2014–15
	Nemanja Vidić	2006–07	2010–11
	Cesc Fàbregas	2007–08	2014–15
	Xavi	2008–09	2011–12
	Manuel Neuer	2011–12	2014–15
	Giorgio Chiellini	2012–13	2017–18
	Luis Suárez	2013–14	2015–16
	Robert Lewandowski	2019–20	2021–22