Paraguayan Footballer of the Year

José Cardozo, pictured here in 2006, is a three-time winner of the journalists' award.

Miguel Almirón, also a three-time winner of the journalists' award.

The Paraguayan Footballer of the Year is an award given to the best Paraguayan professional football player every year. The award began officially in 1997 and it is presented by Paraguayan newspaper ABC Color . Players that participate in this award can play in any professional football club in the world (although they do not necessarily have to be Paraguayan football clubs) and have to be either Paraguayan-born or Paraguayan-naturalised players.

A second award, voted by the public, was established in 2004. Justo Villar was the inaugural winner.

Winners

Journalists' vote

Year	Player	Club(s)	Ref.
1997	Carlos Gamarra	Benfica	[1]
1998	Carlos Gamarra	Corinthians	[1]
1999	Roque Santa Cruz	Olimpia Bayern Munich [a]	[1]
2000	José Cardozo	Toluca	[1]
2001	Roberto Acuña	Zaragoza	[1]
2002	José Cardozo	Toluca	[1]
2003	José Cardozo	Toluca	[1]
2004	Justo Villar	Newell's Old Boys	[1]
2005	Julio dos Santos	Cerro Porteño	[1]
2006	Óscar Cardozo	Nacional Newell's Old Boys [b]	[1]
2007	Salvador Cabañas	América	[1]
2008	Claudio Morel Rodríguez	Boca Juniors	[1]
2009	Óscar Cardozo	Benfica	[1]
2010	Lucas Barrios	Borussia Dortmund	[1]
2011	Pablo Zeballos	Olimpia	[1]
2012	Pablo Aguilar	Sportivo Luqueño Tijuana [c]	[1]
2013	Ángel Romero	Cerro Porteño	[1]
2014	Fernando Fernández	Guaraní	[1]
2015	Derlis González	Dynamo Kyiv	[1]
2016	Rodrigo Rojas	Cerro Porteño	[1]
2017	Miguel Almirón	Atlanta United	[1]
2018	Miguel Almirón	Atlanta United	[1]
2019	Roque Santa Cruz	Olimpia	[2]
2020	N/A	N/A
2021	Gustavo Gómez	Palmeiras	[3]
2022	Miguel Almirón	Newcastle United	[4]
2023	Mathías Villasanti	Grêmio
2024	Diego Gómez	Inter Miami	[5]
2025	Omar Alderete	Getafe Sunderland [d]

Public vote

Year	Player	Club(s)	Ref.
2004	Justo Villar	Newell's Old Boys	[1]
2005	Julio dos Santos	Cerro Porteño	[1]
2006	Óscar Cardozo	Nacional Newell's Old Boys [b]	[1]
2007	Nelson Valdez	Borussia Dortmund	[1]
2008	Salvador Cabañas	América	[1]
2009	Salvador Cabañas	América	[1]
2010	Nelson Valdez	Hércules	[1]
2011	Pablo Zeballos	Olimpia	[1]
2012	Fidencio Oviedo	Cerro Porteño	[1]
2013	Pablo Aguilar	Tijuana	[1]
2014	Fernando Fernández	Guaraní	[1]
2015	William Mendieta	Palmeiras	[1]
2016	Rodrigo Rojas	Cerro Porteño	[1]
2017	Miguel Almirón	Atlanta United	[1]
2018	Roque Santa Cruz	Olimpia	[1]
2019	Roque Santa Cruz	Olimpia	[2]
2020	N/A	N/A
2021	Gustavo Gómez	Palmeiras
2022	Miguel Almirón	Newcastle United	[6]
2023	Mathías Villasanti	Grêmio
2024	Diego Gómez	Inter Miami	[7]
2025	Omar Alderete	Getafe Sunderland [e]

Notes

1. Santa Cruz played the first half of 1999 for Olimpia, before being transferred to Bayern Munich in August 1999.
2. Cardozo played the first half of 2006 for the Nacional, before being transferred to Newell's Old Boys in the second half of 2006.
3. Aguilar played the first half of 2012 on loan to Sportivo Luqueño, and the second half of 2012 on loan to Tijuana.
4. Alderete played the first half of 2025 for Getafe, before being transferred to Sunderland in August 2025.
5. Alderete played the first half of 2025 for Getafe, before being transferred to Sunderland in August 2025.

References

1. "Almirón y Roque, los mejores del 2018". ABC Color (in Spanish). 21 December 2018.
2. "Roque, el mejor del año". ABC Color (in Spanish). 27 December 2019.
3. "Gustavo Gómez, el "Mejor futbolista paraguayo del año"". ABC Color.
4. "Miguel Almirón, elegido el Mejor Futbolista Paraguayo del 2022"". ABC Color.
5. "Diego Gómez fue elegido el "Mejor Futbolista Paraguayo" del 2024"". ABC Color.
6. "Miguel Almirón, elegido el Mejor Futbolista Paraguayo del 2022"". ABC Color.
7. "Diego Gómez fue elegido el "Mejor Futbolista Paraguayo" del 2024"". ABC Color.