Golden Boy (award)

For other uses, see Golden Boy.

Golden Boy

2025 Golden Boy Désiré Doué
Sport	Association football
Country	Italy
Presented by	Tuttosport
History
First award	2003
Editions	23
Most recent	Désiré Doué
Website	tuttosport.com

The Golden Boy is an award established by 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]

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

Year	Winner	Club(s)	Position	Birth year	Award age	Ref(s)
2003	Rafael van der Vaart	Ajax	Midfielder	1983	20 years, 304 days	[5]
2004	Wayne Rooney	Everton Manchester United	Forward	1985	19 years, 50 days	[5]
2005	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	Forward	1987	18 years, 173 days	[5]
2006	Cesc Fàbregas	Arsenal	Midfielder	1987	19 years, 212 days	[5]
2007	Sergio Agüero	Atlético Madrid	Forward	1988	19 years, 188 days	[5]
2008	Anderson	Manchester United	Midfielder	1988	20 years, 237 days	[6]
2009	Alexandre Pato	Milan	Forward	1989	20 years, 102 days	[7]
2010	Mario Balotelli	Inter Milan Manchester City	Forward	1990	20 years, 13 days	[8]
2011	Mario Götze	Borussia Dortmund	Midfielder	1992	19 years, 189 days	[9]
2012	Isco	Málaga	Midfielder	1992	20 years, 245 days	[10]
2013	Paul Pogba	Juventus	Midfielder	1993	20 years, 264 days	[11]
2014	Raheem Sterling	Liverpool	Forward	1994	20 years, 12 days	[12]
2015	Anthony Martial	Monaco Manchester United	Forward	1995	20 years, 14 days	[13]
2016	Renato Sanches	Benfica Bayern Munich	Midfielder	1997	19 years, 67 days	[14]
2017	Kylian Mbappé	Monaco Paris Saint-Germain	Forward	1998	18 years, 307 days	[15]
2018	Matthijs de Ligt	Ajax	Defender	1999	19 years, 127 days	[16]
2019	João Félix	Benfica Atlético Madrid	Forward	1999	20 years, 17 days	[17]
2020	Erling Haaland	Borussia Dortmund	Forward	2000	20 years, 123 days	[18]
2021	Pedri	Barcelona	Midfielder	2002	18 years, 362 days	[19]
2022	Gavi	Barcelona	Midfielder	2004	18 years, 77 days	[20]
2023	Jude Bellingham	Borussia Dortmund Real Madrid	Midfielder	2003	20 years, 159 days	[21]
2024	Lamine Yamal	Barcelona	Forward	2007	17 years, 137 days	[22]
2025	Désiré Doué	Paris Saint-Germain	Forward	2005	20 years, 154 days	[23]

Awards won by position

As of 4 November 2025

Position	Win(s)
Forward	13
Midfielder	10
Defender	1

Awards won by nationality

As of 4 November 2025

Country	Win(s)	Year(s)
Spain	5	2006, 2012, 2021, 2022, 2024
France	4	2013, 2015, 2017, 2025
England	3	2004, 2014, 2023
Netherlands	2	2003, 2018
Argentina		2005, 2007
Brazil		2008, 2009
Portugal		2016, 2019
Italy	1	2010
Germany		2011
Norway		2020

Awards won by club

As of 4 November 2025

Year in bold have shared the win with other clubs.

Club	Win(s)	Year(s)
Barcelona	4	2005, 2021, 2022, 2024
Borussia Dortmund	3	2011, 2020, 2023 [A]
Manchester United		2004, [B] 2008, 2015 [C]
Ajax	2	2003, 2018
Atlético Madrid		2007, 2019 [D]
Monaco		2015, [E] 2017 [F]
Benfica		2016 [G] , 2019 [H]
Paris Saint-Germain		2017 [C] , 2025
Everton	1	2004 [E]
Arsenal		2006
Milan		2009
Manchester City		2010 [I]
Inter Milan		2010 [J]
Málaga		2012
Juventus		2013
Liverpool		2014
Bayern Munich		2016 [D]
Real Madrid		2023 [K]

See also

• Bravo Award
• Kopa Trophy
• Ballon d'Or
• Golden Girl (award)

Notes

1. Shared with Real Madrid.
2. Shared with Everton.
3. Shared with Monaco.
4. Shared with Benfica.
5. 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. "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.