Ronaldo as Iniesta as man of the match master

Ronaldo as Iniesta as man of the match master

Since UEFA introduced the EURO man of the match award, Andrés Iniesta has been the master, but his record is under threat from Cristiano Ronaldo. We look at the award's history.

• Key points

• UEFA has been awarding official man of the match prizes since EURO '96
• Andrés Iniesta has won six man of the match gongs, two more than anyone else
• Cristiano Ronaldo could equal him with awards in the semis and final
• Iniesta and Andrea Pirlo claimed a record three awards in 2012
• Dimitri Payet and Renato Sanches could catch them in the semi-finals
• Iniesta, Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović are the only men to win awards in three separate EUROs
• Germany have a record 21 awards, five of them collected in their five EURO 2016 games

• Most awards

Andrés Iniesta (Spain) 6 – 1 in 2008, 3 in 2012, 2 in 2016
Andrea Pirlo (Italy) 4 – 1 in 2008, 3 in 2012
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) 4 – 1 in 2008, 2 in 2012, 1 in 2016
Zinédine Zidane (France) 4 – 2 in 2000, 2 in 2004
Michael Ballack (Germany) 3 – 2 in 2004, 1 in 2008
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden) 3 – 1 in 2004, 1 in 2008, 1 in 2012

• Most awards in one tournament

2016: Eden Hazard (Belgium), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Dimitri Payet (France), Renato Sanches (Portugal), Granit Xhaka (Switzerland) 2
2012: Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Andrea Pirlo (Italy) 3
2008: Andrey Arshavin (Russia), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), David Villa (Spain) 2
2004: Milan Baroš (Czech Republic), Michael Ballack (Germany), Wayne Rooney (England), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands), Theo Zagaorakis (Greece), Zinédine Zidane (France) 2
2000: Luís Figo (Portugal), Thierry Henry (France), Erik Mykland (Norway), Francesco Totti (Italy), Zinédine Zidane (France) 2
1996: Karel Poborský (Czech Republic), Mattias Sammer (Germany), David Seaman (England), Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) 2

• Awards in most tournaments

Andrés Iniesta, (2008, 2012, 2016), Cristiano Ronaldo (2008, 2012, 2016)
Zlatan Ibrahimović (2004, 2008, 2012)

• Other records

Youngest winner: Wayne Rooney (England v Switzerland, 2004) 18 years 237 days
Oldest winner: Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine v Sweden 2012) 35 years 256 days

Classic semi-finals involving France and Germany

• Teams with most awards

Overall
Germany 21
Portugal 20
Spain 20
France 16
Italy 16

By tournament
2016: Germany, Portugal 5 (maximum)
2012: Spain 6 (maximum)
2008: Spain 6 (maximum)
2004: Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal 4
2000: Italy 5
1996: Germany 5