# IHF World Player of the Year

The IHF World Player of the Year is a handball award given annually to the player who is considered to have performed the best in the previous season, both at club and international competitions. It is awarded based on votes from experts, media and fans.

## About

The award was awarded by IHF since 1988 in both Men's and Women's Category separately.
No award was awarded in the years 1991, 1992, 1993, 2017, 2020 and 2022.

## Men

| Year | Winner | Country | Position | Ref. |
| 1988 | Veselin Vujović | Yugoslavia | Left back | |
| 1989 | Kang Jae-Won | South Korea | Right back | |
| 1990 | Magnus Wislander | Sweden | Center back | |
| 1991 | No vote | No vote | No vote | No vote |
| 1992 | No vote | No vote | No vote | No vote |
| 1993 | No vote | No vote | No vote | No vote |
| 1994 | Talant Dujshebaev | Russia | Centre back | |
| 1995 | Jackson Richardson | France | Centre back | |
| 1996 | Talant Dujshebaev (2) | Spain | Centre back | |
| 1997 | Stéphane Stoecklin | France | Right back | |
| 1998 | Daniel Stephan | Germany | Left back | |
| 1999 | Rafael Guijosa | Spain | Left wing | |
| 2000 | Dragan Škrbić | Yugoslavia | Line player | |
| 2001 | Yoon Kyung-Shin | South Korea | Right back | |
| 2002 | Bertrand Gille | France | Line player | |
| 2003 | Ivano Balić | Croatia | Centre back | |
| 2004 | Henning Fritz | Germany | Goalkeeper | |
| 2005 | Arpad Šterbik | Serbia and Montenegro | Goalkeeper | |
| 2006 | Ivano Balić (2) | Croatia | Centre back | |
| 2007 | Nikola Karabatić | France | Centre back | |
| 2008 | Thierry Omeyer | France | Goalkeeper | |
| 2009 | Sławomir Szmal | Poland | Goalkeeper | |
| 2010 | Filip Jícha | Czech Republic | Left back | |
| 2011 | Mikkel Hansen | Denmark | Left back | |
| 2012 | Daniel Narcisse | France | Centre back | |
| 2013 | Domagoj Duvnjak | Croatia | Centre back | |
| 2014 | Nikola Karabatić (2) | France | Centre back | |
| 2015 | Mikkel Hansen (2) | Denmark | Left back | |
| 2016 | Nikola Karabatić (3) | France | Centre back | |
| 2017 | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 2018 | Mikkel Hansen (3) | Denmark | Left back | |
| 2019 | Niklas Landin Jacobsen | Denmark | Goalkeeper | |
| 2020 | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 2021 | Niklas Landin Jacobsen (2) | Denmark | Goalkeeper | |
| 2022 | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 2023 | Mathias Gidsel | Denmark | Right back | |

## Women

| Year | Winner | Country | Position |
| 1988 | Svetlana Kitić | Yugoslavia | Centre back |
| 1989 | Kim Hyun-Mee | South Korea | |
| 1990 | Jasna Kolar-Merdan | Austria | Left back |
| 1991 | No vote | No vote | No vote |
| 1992 | No vote | No vote | No vote |
| 1993 | No vote | No vote | No vote |
| 1994 | Mia Hermansson | Sweden | Centre back |
| 1995 | Erzsébet Kocsis | Hungary | Line player |
| 1996 | Lim O-Kyeong | South Korea | Centre back |
| 1997 | Anja Andersen | Denmark | Left back |
| 1998 | Trine Haltvik | Norway | Centre back |
| 1999 | Ausra Fridrikas | Austria | Left back |
| 2000 | Bojana Radulović | Hungary | Right back |
| 2001 | Cecilie Leganger | Norway | Goalkeeper |
| 2002 | Zhai Chao | China | Centre back |
| 2003 | Bojana Radulović (2) | Hungary | Right back |
| 2004 | Anita Kulcsár | Hungary | Line player |
| 2005 | Anita Görbicz | Hungary | Centre back |
| 2006 | Nadine Krause | Germany | Left back |
| 2007 | Gro Hammerseng | Norway | Centre back |
| 2008 | Linn-Kristin Riegelhuth | Norway | Right wing |
| 2009 | Allison Pineau | France | Centre back |
| 2010 | Cristina Neagu | Romania | Left back |
| 2011 | Heidi Løke | Norway | Line player |
| 2012 | Alexandra do Nascimento | Brazil | Right wing |
| 2013 | Andrea Lekić | Serbia | Centre back |
| 2014 | Eduarda Amorim | Brazil | Left back |
| 2015 | Cristina Neagu (2) | Romania | Left back |
| 2016 | Cristina Neagu (3) | Romania | Left back |
| 2017 | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 2018 | Cristina Neagu (4) | Romania | Left back |
| 2019 | Stine Bredal Oftedal | Norway | Centre back |
| 2020 | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 2021 | Sandra Toft | Denmark | Goalkeeper |
| 2022 | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| 2023 | Henny Reistad | Norway | Left back |

## Previous awards

While the IHF has only reported awards since 1988, other players have been voted best players in the world before.
Thus, the Romanian Ștefan Birtalan was elected World Player of the Year in 1974, 1976 and 1977. And Ioan Moser of Romania was also named "Best Handball Player in the World” in 1964.

## Best players of all time

In 1992, Gheorghe Gruia of Romania was named Best Player of All Time by the International Handball Federation.
In 2000, Magnus Wislander of Sweden and Zinaida Turchyna of Ukraine were elected Players of the 20th Century by the IHF.
In 2010, Ivano Balić of Croatia and Svetlana Kitić of Yugoslavia were voted Best Players Ever in an online poll organized by the IHF.

## Team of the century

In 2000, the official bulletin of the International Handball Federation, World Handball Magazine, chose Gheorghe Gruia, Ioan Moser and Cornel Penu as members of the "Team of the Century".

## Other awards

In 2010, the fans voted Thierry Omeyer as world's best goalkeeper ever. And in 2011, the fans voted for Luminița Dinu (born Huțupan) as best female goalkeeper ever.
Previously in 2009, Steffen Fäth and Cristina Neagu respectively won Rookie of the Year award for male and female.