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Elías Figueroa and Carlos Tévez were each named the South American Footballer of the Year three times in succession, three decades apart.

The Rey del Fútbol de América ("King of Football of America"), often referred to as the South American Footballer of the Year, is an annual association football award presented to the best footballer in South America over the previous calendar year. The award was conceived by Venezuelan newspaper El Mundo, which awarded it from 1971 to 1985. Uruguayan newspaper El País took over from 1986 onwards.

Originally, journalists could vote for South American players at any club around the world, but in 1986, there was a change in rules to prohibit players not playing in South American leagues from winning the award. From 1998, eligibility extended to South Americans playing in Mexico due to the participation of Mexican clubs in the Copa Libertadores.

The inaugural winner was Tostão of Cruzeiro. Mario Kempes, who played for Spanish club Valencia, was the only player to win the award while playing in a non-South American league. Three players have won the award three times each: Elías Figueroa of Internacional, Zico of Flamengo, and Carlos Tevez of Boca Juniors and Corinthians; Figueroa and Tevez did so in consecutive years. With 13 awards, Argentine and Brazilian players are tied for having won the most awards. Argentine club River Plate have had the most winners with seven awards. The most recent recipient of the award is Pity Martínez of River Plate, who won in 2018.

Winners

El Mundo award (1971–1985)

The award by newspaper El Mundo was awarded to the best South American footballer between 1971 and 1985.

Year	Rank	Player	Team
1971	1st	Tostão	Cruzeiro
	2nd	José Omar Pastoriza	Independiente
	3rd	Luis Artime	Nacional
1972	1st	Teófilo Cubillas	Alianza Lima
	2nd	Pelé	Santos
	3rd	Jairzinho	Botafogo
1973	1st	Pelé	Santos
	2nd	Miguel Ángel Brindisi	Huracán
	3rd	Rivellino	Corinthians
1974	1st	Elías Figueroa	Internacional
	2nd	Marinho Chagas	Botafogo
	3rd	Carlos Babington	SG Wattenscheid 09
1975	1st	Elías Figueroa	Internacional
	2nd	Norberto Alonso	River Plate
	3rd	Fernando Morena	Peñarol
1976	1st	Elías Figueroa	Internacional
	2nd	Zico	Flamengo
	3rd	Rivellino	Fluminense
1977	1st	Zico	Flamengo
	2nd	Rivellino	Fluminense
	3rd	Elías Figueroa	Palestino
1978	1st	Mario Kempes	Valencia
	2nd	Ubaldo Fillol	River Plate
	3rd	Dirceu	América
1979	1st	Diego Maradona	Argentinos Juniors
	2nd	Julio César Romero	Sportivo Luqueño
	3rd	Falcão	Internacional
1980	1st	Diego Maradona	Argentinos Juniors
	2nd	Zico	Flamengo
	3rd	Waldemar Victorino	Nacional
1981	1st	Zico	Flamengo
	2nd	Diego Maradona	Boca Juniors
	3rd	Júnior	Flamengo
1982	1st	Zico	Flamengo
	2nd	Falcão	Roma
	3rd	Diego Maradona	Barcelona
1983	1st	Sócrates	Corinthians
	2nd	Ubaldo Fillol	Argentinos Juniors
	3rd	Éder	Atlético Mineiro
1984	1st	Enzo Francescoli	River Plate
	2nd	Ubaldo Fillol	Flamengo
	3rd	Ricardo Bochini	Independiente
1985	1st	Julio César Romero	Fluminense
	2nd	Enzo Francescoli	River Plate
	3rd	Claudio Borghi	Argentinos Juniors

El País award (1986–present)

From 1986, the South American Footballer of the Year was named by El País.

Year	Rank	Player	Team	Points
1986	1st	Antonio Alzamendi	River Plate	–
	2nd	Careca	São Paulo	–
	3rd	Julio César Romero	Fluminense	–
1987	1st	Carlos Valderrama	Deportivo Cali	–
	2nd	Obdulio Trasante	Peñarol	–
	3rd	José Perdomo	Peñarol	–
1988	1st	Rubén Paz	Racing Club	–
	2nd	Hugo de León	Nacional	–
	3rd	José Pintos Saldanha	Nacional	–
1989	1st	Bebeto	Vasco da Gama	74
	2nd	Mazinho	Vasco da Gama	42
	3rd	René Higuita	Atlético Nacional	34
1990	1st	Raúl Vicente Amarilla	Olimpia	57
	2nd	Rubén da Silva	River Plate	32
	3rd	Leonel Álvarez	Atlético Nacional	25
		René Higuita	Atlético Nacional
1991	1st	Oscar Ruggeri	Vélez Sarsfield	44
	2nd	Ramón Díaz	River Plate	28
	3rd	Patricio Toledo	Universidad Católica	23
1992	1st	Raí	São Paulo	55
	2nd	Sergio Goycochea	Olimpia	24
	3rd	Alberto Acosta	San Lorenzo	20
		Fernando Gamboa	Newell's Old Boys
1993	1st	Carlos Valderrama	Junior	46
	2nd	Marco Etcheverry	Colo-Colo	30
	3rd	Cafu	São Paulo	28
		Freddy Rincón	Palmeiras
1994	1st	Cafu	São Paulo	36
	2nd	José Luis Chilavert	Vélez Sarsfield	35
	3rd	Gustavo Adrián López	Independiente	22
1995	1st	Enzo Francescoli	River Plate	34
	2nd	Diego Maradona	Boca Juniors	28
	3rd	Edmundo	Flamengo	24
1996	1st	José Luis Chilavert	Vélez Sarsfield	80
	2nd	Enzo Francescoli	River Plate	69
	3rd	Ariel Ortega	River Plate	41
		Carlos Valderrama	Junior
1997	1st	Marcelo Salas	River Plate	87
	2nd	Nolberto Solano	Sporting Cristal	39
	3rd	José Luis Chilavert	Vélez Sarsfield	37
1998	1st	Martín Palermo	Boca Juniors	73
	2nd	Carlos Gamarra	Corinthians	70
	3rd	José Luis Chilavert	Vélez Sarsfield	63
1999	1st	Javier Saviola	River Plate	55
	2nd	Francisco Arce	Palmeiras	45
	3rd	Juan Román Riquelme	Boca Juniors	42
2000	1st	Romário	Vasco da Gama	67
	2nd	Juan Román Riquelme	Boca Juniors	64
	3rd	Óscar Córdoba	Boca Juniors	53
		Martín Palermo	Boca Juniors
2001	1st	Juan Román Riquelme	Boca Juniors	88
	2nd	Óscar Córdoba	Boca Juniors	59
	3rd	Romário	Vasco da Gama	41
2002	1st	José Cardozo	Toluca	39
	2nd	Sergio Órteman	Olimpia	32
	3rd	Alejandro Lembo	Nacional	30
2003	1st	Carlos Tevez	Boca Juniors	73
	2nd	José Cardozo	Toluca	39
	3rd	Diego	Santos	33
2004	1st	Carlos Tevez	Boca Juniors	76
	2nd	Javier Mascherano	River Plate	56
	3rd	Lucho González	River Plate	37
		Robinho	Santos
2005	1st	Carlos Tevez	Corinthians	77
	2nd	Diego Lugano	São Paulo	54
	3rd	Cicinho	São Paulo	37
2006	1st	Matías Fernández	Colo-Colo	62
	2nd	Rodrigo Palacio	Boca Juniors	53
	3rd	Fernando Gago	Boca Juniors	50
2007	1st	Salvador Cabañas	América	67
	2nd	Claudio Morel Rodríguez	Boca Juniors	61
	3rd	Hugo Ibarra	Boca Juniors	57
2008	1st	Juan Sebastián Verón	Estudiantes	66
	2nd	Juan Román Riquelme	Boca Juniors	63
	3rd	Salvador Cabañas	América	47
2009	1st	Juan Sebastián Verón	Estudiantes	109
	2nd	Édison Méndez	LDU Quito	64
		Humberto Suazo	Monterrey
	3rd	Leandro Desábato	Estudiantes	52
2010	1st	Andrés D'Alessandro	Internacional	61
	2nd	Juan Sebastián Verón	Estudiantes	51
	3rd	Neymar	Santos	47
2011	1st	Neymar	Santos	130
	2nd	Eduardo Vargas	Universidad de Chile	70
	3rd	Paulo Henrique Ganso	Santos	33
2012	1st	Neymar	Santos	199
	2nd	Paolo Guerrero	Corinthians	50
	3rd	Lucas Moura	São Paulo	21
2013	1st	Ronaldinho	Atlético Mineiro	156
	2nd	Neymar	Santos	81
	3rd	Maxi Rodríguez	Newell's Old Boys	79
2014	1st	Teófilo Gutiérrez	River Plate	102
	2nd	Carlos Sánchez	River Plate	49
	3rd	Leonardo Pisculichi	River Plate	30
2015	1st	Carlos Sánchez	River Plate	182
	2nd	Carlos Tevez	Boca Juniors	61
	3rd	Miller Bolaños	Emelec	23
2016	1st	Miguel Borja	Atlético Nacional	85
	2nd	Gabriel Jesus	Palmeiras	76
	3rd	Alejandro Guerra	Atlético Nacional	50
2017	1st	Luan	Grêmio	182
	2nd	Paolo Guerrero	Flamengo	65
	3rd	Arthur	Grêmio	46
2018	1st	Pity Martínez	River Plate	130
	2nd	Juan Fernando Quintero	River Plate	49
	3rd	Franco Armani	River Plate	40

Wins by player

Javier Saviola and Romário were the youngest and oldest winners at age 18 and age 34, respectively.

Player	1st	2nd	3rd
Zico	3 (1977, 1981, 1982)	2 (1976, 1980)
Figueroa	3 (1974, 1975, 1976)	—	1 (1977)
Tevez	3 (2003, 2004, 2005)	1 (2015)	—
Maradona	2 (1979, 1980)	2 (1981, 1995)	1 (1982)
Francescoli	2 (1984, 1995)	2 (1985, 1996)	—
Neymar	2 (2011, 2012)	1 (2013)	1 (2010)
Verón	2 (2008, 2009)	1 (2010)	—
Valderrama	2 (1987, 1993)	—	1 (1996)
Riquelme	1 (2001)	2 (2000, 2008)	1 (1999)
Chilavert	1 (1996)	1 (1994)	2 (1997, 1998)
Romero	1 (1985)	1 (1979)	1 (1986)
Pelé	1 (1973)	1 (1972)	—
Cardozo	1 (2002)	1 (2003)	—
Sanchez	1 (2015)	1 (2014)	—
Cafu	1 (1994)	—	1 (1993)
Palermo	1 (1998)	—	1 (2000)
Romario	1 (2000)	—	1 (2001)
Cabañas	1 (2007)	—	1 (2008)
Tostão	1 (1971)	—	—
Cubillas	1 (1972)	—	—
Sócrates	1 (1983)	—	—
Bebeto	1 (1989)	—	—
Borja	1 (2016)	—	—
Luan	1 (2017)	—	—
Martínez	1 (2018)	—	—

Wins by nationality

Country	Players	Total
Brazil	11	14
Argentina	10	14
Paraguay	5	5
Uruguay	4	5
Chile	3	5
Colombia	3	4
Peru	1	1

Wins by club

Club	Players	Total
River Plate	7	8
Boca Juniors	3	4
Internacional	2	4
Santos	2	3
Flamengo	1	3
Corinthians	2	2
São Paulo	2	2
Vasco da Gama	2	2
Vélez Sársfield	2	2
Argentinos Juniors	1	2
Estudiantes	1	2
Alianza Lima	1	1
América	1	1
Atlético Mineiro	1	1
Atlético Nacional	1	1
Colo-Colo	1	1
Cruzeiro	1	1
Deportivo Cali	1	1
Fluminense	1	1
Grêmio	1	1
Junior	1	1
Olimpia	1	1
Racing	1	1
Toluca	1	1
Valencia	1	1

See also

• South American Coach of the Year

References

• 
  Pierrend, José Luis (16 January 2009). "South American Coach and Player of the Year". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 18 January 2016..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
  

External links

• Diario El Mundo
  


• Diario El Pais