Golden Boy (award)

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Golden Boy
Doue asse psg 2425.png
2025 Golden Boy Désiré Doué
Sport Association football
CountryItaly
Presented by Tuttosport
History
First award2003
Editions23
Most recent Flag of France.svg Désiré Doué
Website tuttosport.com

The Golden Boy is an award established by Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport, that is given by sports journalists to a young male footballer playing in Europe perceived to have been the most impressive during a calendar year (two halves to two separate seasons). All nominees must be under the age of 21 and play in a European nation's top tier. Apart from the main award, an additional one, Golden Boy Web, is decided by online users. [1]

Contents

Lionel Messi is the only player to have won both the prestigious Golden Boy award and the Ballon d'Or. He received the Golden Boy in 2005 at the age of 18 years and 173 days, and remained the youngest winner until Gavi won the award in 2022 at 18 years and 77 days. The current youngest winner is Lamine Yamal, who claimed the award in 2024 at the age of 17 years and 137 days.

Selection

The prize was established by Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport in 2003. [2] Newspapers that now participate in voting include Bild (Germany), Blick (Switzerland), A Bola (Portugal), L'Équipe (France), France Football (France), Marca (Spain), Mundo Deportivo (Spain), Ta Nea (Greece), Sport Express (Russia), De Telegraaf (Netherlands), and The Times (United Kingdom). [3] Each juror is allowed to nominate five players; the juror allocates 10 points to their most impressive pick, 7 for second, 5 for third, 3 for fourth, and 1 point for fifth. [4]

Winners

YearWinnerClub(s)PositionBirth yearAward ageRef(s)
2003 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Rafael van der Vaart Flag of the Netherlands.svg Ajax Midfielder 198320 years, 304 days [5]
2004 Flag of England.svg Wayne Rooney Flag of England.svg Everton
Flag of England.svg Manchester United 		Forward 198519 years, 50 days [5]
2005 Flag of Argentina.svg Lionel Messi Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona Forward 198718 years, 173 days [5]
2006 Flag of Spain.svg Cesc Fàbregas Flag of England.svg Arsenal Midfielder 198719 years, 212 days [5]
2007 Flag of Argentina.svg Sergio Agüero Flag of Spain.svg Atlético Madrid Forward 198819 years, 188 days [5]
2008 Flag of Brazil.svg Anderson Flag of England.svg Manchester United Midfielder 198820 years, 237 days [6]
2009 Flag of Brazil.svg Alexandre Pato Flag of Italy.svg Milan Forward 198920 years, 102 days [7]
2010 Flag of Italy.svg Mario Balotelli Flag of Italy.svg Inter Milan
Flag of England.svg Manchester City 		Forward 199020 years, 13 days [8]
2011 Flag of Germany.svg Mario Götze Flag of Germany.svg Borussia Dortmund Midfielder 199219 years, 189 days [9]
2012 Flag of Spain.svg Isco Flag of Spain.svg Málaga Midfielder 199220 years, 245 days [10]
2013 Flag of France.svg Paul Pogba Flag of Italy.svg Juventus Midfielder 199320 years, 264 days [11]
2014 Flag of England.svg Raheem Sterling Flag of England.svg Liverpool Forward 199420 years, 12 days [12]
2015 Flag of France.svg Anthony Martial Flag of France.svg Monaco
Flag of England.svg Manchester United 		Forward 199520 years, 14 days [13]
2016 Flag of Portugal (official).svg Renato Sanches Flag of Portugal (official).svg Benfica
Flag of Germany.svg Bayern Munich 		Midfielder 199719 years, 67 days [14]
2017 Flag of France.svg Kylian Mbappé Flag of France.svg Monaco
Flag of France.svg Paris Saint-Germain 		Forward 199818 years, 307 days [15]
2018 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Matthijs de Ligt Flag of the Netherlands.svg Ajax Defender 199919 years, 127 days [16]
2019 Flag of Portugal (official).svg João Félix Flag of Portugal (official).svg Benfica
Flag of Spain.svg Atlético Madrid 		Forward 199920 years, 17 days [17]
2020 Flag of Norway.svg Erling Haaland Flag of Germany.svg Borussia Dortmund Forward 200020 years, 123 days [18]
2021 Flag of Spain.svg Pedri Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona Midfielder 200218 years, 362 days [19]
2022 Flag of Spain.svg Gavi Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona Midfielder 200418 years, 77 days [20]
2023 Flag of England.svg Jude Bellingham Flag of Germany.svg Borussia Dortmund
Flag of Spain.svg Real Madrid 		Midfielder 200320 years, 159 days [21]
2024 Flag of Spain.svg Lamine Yamal Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona Forward 200717 years, 137 days [22]
2025 Flag of France.svg Désiré Doué Flag of France.svg Paris Saint-Germain Forward 200520 years, 154 days [23]

Awards won by position

As of 4 November 2025
PositionWin(s)
Forward 13
Midfielder 10
Defender 1

Awards won by nationality

As of 4 November 2025
CountryWin(s)Year(s)
Flag of Spain.svg Spain 52006, 2012, 2021, 2022, 2024
Flag of France.svg France 42013, 2015, 2017, 2025
Flag of England.svg England 32004, 2014, 2023
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands 22003, 2018
Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina 2005, 2007
Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil 2008, 2009
Flag of Portugal (official).svg Portugal 2016, 2019
Flag of Italy.svg Italy 12010
Flag of Germany.svg Germany 2011
Flag of Norway.svg Norway 2020

Awards won by club

As of 4 November 2025

Year in bold have shared the win with other clubs.

ClubWin(s)Year(s)
Flag of Spain.svg Barcelona 42005, 2021, 2022, 2024
Flag of Germany.svg Borussia Dortmund 32011, 2020, 2023 [A]
Flag of England.svg Manchester United 2004, [B] 2008, 2015 [C]
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Ajax 22003, 2018
Flag of Spain.svg Atlético Madrid 2007, 2019 [D]
Flag of France.svg Monaco 2015, [E] 2017 [F]
Flag of Portugal (official).svg Benfica 2016 [G] , 2019 [H]
Flag of France.svg Paris Saint-Germain 2017 [C] , 2025
Flag of England.svg Everton 12004 [E]
Flag of England.svg Arsenal 2006
Flag of Italy.svg Milan 2009
Flag of England.svg Manchester City 2010 [I]
Flag of Italy.svg Inter Milan 2010 [J]
Flag of Spain.svg Málaga 2012
Flag of Italy.svg Juventus 2013
Flag of England.svg Liverpool 2014
Flag of Germany.svg Bayern Munich 2016 [D]
Flag of Spain.svg Real Madrid 2023 [K]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Shared with Real Madrid.
  2. ↑ Shared with Everton.
  3. 1 2 Shared with Monaco.
  4. 1 2 Shared with Benfica.
  5. 1 2 Shared with Manchester United.
  6. ↑ Shared with Paris Saint-Germain.
  7. ↑ Shared with Bayern Munich.
  8. ↑ Shared with Atlético Madrid.
  9. ↑ Shared with Inter Milan.
  10. ↑ Shared with Manchester City.
  11. ↑ Shared with Borussia Dortmund.

References

  1. ↑ "ZALEWSKI WINS 2022 EUROPEAN GOLDEN BOY WEB". asroma.com. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  2. ↑ "History of the Golden Boy Award". European Golden Boy. Tuttosport. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  3. ↑ "About the Golden Boy Award". Golden Boy Award. Tuttosport. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  4. ↑ "What is the Golden Boy award? Shortlist, rules and past winners". AllFootball. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Golden Boy: l'Albo d'Oro". tuttosport.com. 6 December 2008. Archived from the original on 1 November 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  6. ↑ "È Anderson il Golden Boy 2008 di Tuttosport". tuttosport.com. 6 December 2008. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  7. ↑ "Pato vince il Golden Boy 2009: "Magari emulare Messi..."". tuttosport.com. 13 December 2009. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  8. ↑ "Balotelli, Golden Boy 2010: "Un giorno sarò del Milan"". tuttosport.com. 21 December 2010. Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  9. ↑ "Borussia Dortmund's Mario Gotze lands 'Golden Boy' award for 2011". Goal.com. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  10. ↑ "Isco wins the 2012 Golden Boy award". insidespanishfootball.com. 22 December 2012. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  11. ↑ "Pogba wins the 2013 Golden Boy award". tuttosport.com. 4 December 2013. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  12. ↑ "Raheem Sterling named Europe's Golden Boy after excellent year at Liverpool FC". Liverpool Echo. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  13. ↑ "Anthony Martial élu Golden Boy 2015". L'Équipe (in French). 19 December 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "Renato Sanches è il Golden Boy 2016 di Tuttosport" [Renato Sanches is Tuttosport's Golden Boy 2016] (in Italian). Tuttosport. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  15. ↑ "Golden Boy, "Le Roi" Mbappé: è il vincitore del 2017" [Mbappé wins Tuttosport's Golden Boy 2017 award] (in Italian). Tuttosport. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  16. ↑ "De Ligt wins 2018 Golden Boy". Football Italia. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  17. ↑ "Il profilo del Golden Boy João Félix: il predestinato". Tuttosport. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  18. ↑ "Golden Boy 2020: Haaland'oro! E Fati trionfa sul web". Tuttosport. 21 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  19. ↑ "Golden Boy 2021, è Pedri il nuovo "Ragazzo d'Oro" di Tuttosport". Tuttosport. 22 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  20. ↑ "DIRETTA Il Golden Boy 2022 è Gavi!". Tuttosport. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  21. ↑ "Jude Bellingham è il Golden Boy Absolute Best 2023". Tuttosport. 17 November 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  22. ↑ "European Golden Boy 2024, trionfa Yamal! Yildiz fa suo il Golden Web, tutti i premi". Tuttosport. 27 November 2024. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  23. ↑ "Désiré Doué: il talento del Psg è l'European Golden Boy Absolute Best 2025". Tuttosport. 4 November 2025. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
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