This paper reports a size-dependent semi-analytical model (SAM) on the frictional magnetoelectroelastic (MEE) contact of a multiferroic thin film and a rigid insulating sphere subjected to surface MEE effects. The Huang-Yu and Gurtin-Murdoch theories are extended to account for the effects of surface MEE. The frequency response functions (FRFs) for the MEE film are analytically derived, which incorporate the surface effects and are consequently converted to the corresponding influence coefficients (ICs). The conjugate gradient method (CGM) is used to obtain the unknown pressure distribution and the fast Fourier transform (FFT) is involved to calculate the surface electric/magnetic potentials and subsurface stresses. The proposed model is implemented to analyze the influences of surface MEE, multiferroic film thickness, and friction coefficient on the contact behaviors, including pressure/stresses and electric/magnetic potentials. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to evaluate the influence of surface parameters and their coupling on the contact behaviors. A set of behavior maps for the pressure and electric/magnetic potentials are constructed to reveal the influences of film thickness and material characteristic length, which can be used to determine the appropriateness of the geometry configuration (i.e. film or half -space) and surface behaviors (i.e. with or without considering the surface MEE effects). (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.