10
Karim Benzema - 76

Playing almost all of his games for Real Madrid since 2009, Benzema was always going to struggle to get too high on this list, and not because he was never good enough. The Frenchman was sensational as Los Blancos' main striker for over a decade, but as a result of playing for such a quality team, he was always surrounded by world-class players in each and every game.

The aforementioned Ronaldo would have claimed a lot of Man of the Match prizes in games that Benzema also impressed in, which does make this slightly harsh on the now 35-year-old. It is still an impressive feat to have one Man of the Match award for every eight games on average over the course of 593 games.

9
Antoine Griezmann - 85

Benzema's former French teammate is next on the list as the Atletico Madrid forward has just shy of 10 more Man of the Match awards than his compatriot. Griezmann has played for three different clubs in La Liga during this time as he started as a winger at Real Sociedad. His impressive spell there gained him a move to Atletico in the first place, where he then left to join Barcelona. The Catalan club was the place he had struggled for form the most, and may have prevented him from getting higher up on this list.

He has always been appreciated by Diego Simeone at Atletico, and this was shown as the club signed him back from Barcelona and helped him recapture his previous form. 14% of his 601 appearances have resulted in Griezmann being the stand-out performer on the pitch.

8
Kevin de Bruyne - 85

Joining Griezmann on 85 awards, the Belgian gets extra credit for appearing in only 444 games in the same period of time which is 156 less than the Frenchman. Manchester City have been a revelation almost ever since he joined the club from Wolfsburg in 2015, and his time at the Etihad will certainly be the spell of his career that has seen him given the majority of these Man of the Match trophies.

De Bruyne has been at the very centre of five Premier League title wins, a Champions League success and various domestic cup triumphs. In almost every game City play, one of their players is very likely to be voted as the Man of the Match such is their dominance. The 32-year-old has an impressive record of winning the award in just under one game out of every five.

7
Harry Kane - 88

The English goal machine has been the best performer in 20% of his games with 88 in 433 appearances. Having just recently moved to Bayern Munich, these statistics are predominantly based on his time with Tottenham, where he scored 213 league goals - becoming the second-highest Premier League scorer of all-time - and 280 in all competitions.

He has played fewer games than all three players below him in the list which says a lot about how much Spurs have relied on him over the years, as he is in elite company. Bayern Munich will dominate games and present him the chance to score even more goals per season than he managed in the Premier League, meaning his numbers are not likely to slow down any time soon. If we were to re-visit this list in 12 months, there is a strong chance Kane could have moved up a place or two.

6
Neymar - 90

Having just called an end to his time playing in Europe, Neymar has definitely been a bag of entertainment during his spells at both Barcelona and PSG. Obviously, this takes into account his Man of the Match awards for his time at Santos too, but he has really become a global star since moving to Barcelona initially. The Brazilian is perhaps taken for granted at times as this graphic shows he has been the stand-out performer in more than 25% of his 337 matches. That figure is much less than every other player on the list as Neymar has regularly struggled with injuries in his career.

Ligue 1 is often questioned for the quality of football by fans of the other top leagues, and Neymar playing for PSG since 2017 may give him an advantage. Regardless of the quality in the league, there can be no doubts that the Brazilian superstar has been a joy to watch, with incredible skills and wonderful goals during his tenure. The same could be said of his time in Spain as he formed part of the iconic MSN trio.

5
Robert Lewandowski - 96

In similar fashion to Kane going forward, Lewandowski was helped by the fact he played for an incredibly dominant Bayern Munich team in Germany for the majority of the years in question here. But having said that, he still had to perform which he certainly did with 344 goals scored during his time with the club. The reason he got the big move to Bayern Munich was the form he showed for Borussia Dortmund in the years prior.

A league winning debut season at Barcelona in 2022/23 did no harm to his total either as the Polish striker picked up where he left off at his new club. He has played more games than Kane, who is below him in the list, but less than Benzema and Griezmann. A respectable percentage of 17% of his matches have seen him named Man of the Match.

4
Eden Hazard - 100

Despite a nightmare four years at Real Madrid - where injuries and fitness really hampered his game time - Hazard managed an incredible 100 Man of the Match performances in his time between 2009 and 2023. He had the pick of the best teams in Europe in 2012 when he left Lille after putting in some dazzling performances in France. The Belgian winger chose to sign for the European champions, Chelsea, in what proved to be a brilliant decision as he went on to help the side to two league titles in seven years.

Still as popular as ever among the Blues' fan base, Hazard has not been the same ever since leaving Stamford Bridge in 2019 which actually makes his position in this list look even more impressive, with four seasons effectively written off. His time in the Premier League cemented him as one of the most technically gifted and exciting players the division has seen.

3
Zlatan Ibrahimovic - 116

Ibrahimovic represented five different clubs in the spell looked at, including two separate stints at AC Milan. Incredibly, he did not disappoint for any of the clubs apart from Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, as shown by the fact he did not spend long at the club at all. He is the oldest player to appear on the list and now actually the only player to have retired as he hung up his boots following the 2022/23 season.

Had the statistics stretched back five more years, the number he accumulated would no doubt be a lot higher than the already impressive tally. Being a key man for PSG, AC Milan, Manchester United and LA Galaxy is no easy feat - but for Ibra - it was no problem at all.

2
Cristiano Ronaldo - 176

It really is incredible that Ronaldo does not come out on top of this list despite being Man of the Match in just under 30% of his 607 matches since 2009. There are no prizes for guessing the man to finish above him either, but a haul of 176 is incredible in its own right. His first spell at Manchester United, where he stunned fans as he rose to prominence, is discounted from this graphic as it came before his move to Real Madrid in 2009.

This just goes to show that his career total will be even more impressive than this statistic already is. It will be no consolation for the man that strives to be the very best at everything. He has achieved pretty much everything in his career, but even small stats like this will bother the perfectionist.

1
Lionel Messi - 324

Mind-blowing. From 628 appearances since 2009, the little magician has been named Man of the Match in more than half of those games, 52% to be exact. Barcelona was the main club to see the very best of Messi, but Inter Miami have been getting a very, very good version of the Argentinian in recent weeks. His time at the Nou Camp was on another level from anything football fans of this generation have ever seen.

It may be a statistic to give him an edge in the hot debate with Ronaldo as it is not even close, with Messi not being too far off having twice as many of these awards in comparison to his Portuguese counterpart. It should come as no surprise that the 36-year-old finishes top of this list as he did incredibly score a record-breaking 91 goals in the calendar year of 2012.

End of an Era

If not Messi who else? The truth is Messi is ahead of Ronaldo in almost everything. Ronaldo is second.

Messi is like the planet called mercury, no one goes near it.