Golden Boy (award)

For other uses, see Golden Boy.

Golden Boy
2025 Golden Boy Désiré Doué
SportAssociation football
CountryItaly
Presented byTuttosport
History
First award2003
Editions23
Most recent Désiré Doué
Websitetuttosport.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]

Rafael van der Vaart became the first recipient in 2003 by winning it at the age of 20 years and 304 days. To this day, he remains the oldest winner of the award. 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

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

Notes

  1. ^ Shared with Real Madrid.
  2. ^ Shared with Everton.
  3. ^ a b Shared with Monaco.
  4. ^ a b Shared with Benfica.
  5. ^ a b 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Golden Boy (award).
  1. ^ "ZALEWSKI WINS 2022 EUROPEAN GOLDEN BOY WEB". asroma.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2022. 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. ^ a b c d e "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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