One of the most prestigious individual honours in football, the Golden Boy Award will be as competitive as ever for the 2026 edition.
The Tuttosport crown has awarded under-21s who went on to huge success such as Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Aguero and many more.
As such, it’s one everyone wants to get their hands on, particularly as players seem to get more and more elite opportunities at younger and younger ages.
An official date for the 2026 edition is yet to be announced, with the 2025 awards, won by PSG’s Desire Doue, held in November.
New Golden Boy rankings
What we do know is that this year the awards are partnering with Transfermarkt, who will help deter mine the 100 nominees.
The transfer and statistic experts have put together a formula to decide the top 100, and with the World Cup set to be decisive, they’ve revealed their current rankings.
Well clear at the top is Barcelona and Spain’s Lamine Yamal, but he won’t be running.
Golden Boy rules state a previous winner can’t be considered again.
Players over the age of 21 are also out of the running, meaning Doue now falls out of two of the criteria.
Instead, his teammate Warren Zaïre-Emery is the favourite, second in the rankings behind Lamine.
Spain and Barca’s Pau Cubarsi sits third, Leipzig and Ivory Coast’s Yan Diomande fourth, with Morocco and Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi a riser in fifth thanks to his World Cup performances.
Current Golden Boy Award ranking
| Ranking | Player | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lamine Yamal (ineligible) | Barcelona | 82.4 |
| 2 | W. Zaïre-Emery | PSG | 75.2 |
| 3 | Pau Cubarsí | Barcelona | 73.5 |
| 4 | Y. Diomande | Leipzig | 71.5 |
| 5 | A. Bouaddi | Lille | 65.9 |
| 6 | Estêvão | Chelsea | 65.1 |
| 7 | V. Froholdt | Porto | 64.6 |
| 8 | L. Karl | Bayern Munich | 62.2 |
| 9 | Endrick | Real Madrid | 62.1 |
| 10 | Rayan | Bournemouth | 61.9 |
List of all Golden Boy Award winners
| Year | Winner | Club(s) | Award age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Désiré Doué | Paris Saint-Germain | 20 years, 154 days |
| 2024 | Lamine Yamal | Barcelona | 17 years, 137 days |
| 2023 | Jude Bellingham | Borussia Dortmund Real Madrid | 20 years, 159 days |
| 2022 | Gavi | Barcelona | 18 years, 77 days |
| 2021 | Pedri | Barcelona | 18 years, 362 days |
| 2020 | Erling Haaland | Borussia Dortmund | 20 years, 123 days |
| 2019 | João Félix | Benfica Atlético Madrid | 20 years, 17 days |
| 2018 | Matthijs de Ligt | Ajax | 19 years, 127 days |
| 2017 | Kylian Mbappé | Monaco Paris Saint-Germain | 18 years, 307 days |
| 2016 | Renato Sanches | Benfica Bayern Munich | 19 years, 67 days |
| 2015 | Anthony Martial | Monaco Manchester United | 20 years, 14 days |
| 2014 | Raheem Sterling | Liverpool | 20 years, 12 days |
| 2013 | Paul Pogba | Juventus | 20 years, 264 days |
| 2012 | Isco | Málaga | 20 years, 245 days |
| 2011 | Mario Götze | Borussia Dortmund | 19 years, 189 days |
| 2010 | Mario Balotelli | Inter Milan Manchester City | 20 years, 13 days |
| 2009 | Alexandre Pato | Milan | 20 years, 102 days |
| 2008 | Anderson | Manchester United | 20 years, 237 days |
| 2007 | Sergio Agüero | Atlético Madrid | 19 years, 188 days |
| 2006 | Cesc Fàbregas | Arsenal | 19 years, 212 days |
| 2005 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 18 years, 173 days |
| 2004 | Wayne Rooney | Everton Manchester United | 19 years, 50 days |
| 2003 | Rafael van der Vaart | Ajax | 20 years, 304 days |
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