What is the Golden Boy award? Shortlist, rules, past winners for Europe’s best Under-21 player

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 17 Oct 2024 20:09 BST
• 8 min read

Jude Bellingham was voted as The Golden Boy for 2023, following up on his victory in the Kopa Trophy.

The Real Madrid star was handed the award in a ceremony in Turin on December 4, 2023, after emerging victorious from the 25-man shortlist.

The Golden Boy award is given to the best young footballer in Europe over a calendar year, and it is voted for by sports journalists across the continent.

READ MORE: Kopa Trophy - The top 10 Under-21 players of 2023

There have been many recipients of the prestigious prize who have gone on to have superstar careers, so it is an accolade that is held in high regard.

The reigning champion is England international Bellingham following his success in 2023. Barcelona midfielder Gavi won the 2022 award but was usurped by his Los Blancos rival.

READ MORE: Who won Ballon d’Or 2023? Final results, Kopa Trophy, Yashin Trophy and much more

Golden Boy shortlist for 2024

The original 100-man shortlist was announced on June 5, 2024 and whittled down to 20 finalists on October 17, 2024.

Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal leads the way and he is the clear favourite to win the 2024 edition. The Spaniard is trailed by Portugal and PSG midfielder Joao Neves, Man Utd and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho and French duo Warren Zaire-Emery and Leny Yoro. Real Madrid starlet Arda Guler also makes the list.

What is the Golden Boy award?

The prize was established by Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport in 2003, with Ajax starlet Rafael van der Vaart taking home the inaugural trophy.

The rules are simple. All nominees must be under the age of 21 and play in a European top division, with most past winners coming from the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A or Ligue 1.

The award names the player who the jury believes is the brightest young talent in world football for that specific year.

How is the Golden Boy award decided and who votes?

The winner of the award is determined by a vote. Each voter allocates 10 points to the player they deem most impressive, with seven points for second, five points for third, three points for fourth and one point for fifth.

Voters are sports journalists from a host of Europe’s most well-respected newspapers, including Bild (Germany), l’Equipe (France) and Marca (Spain).

When is the Golden Boy trophy awarded?

A shortlist of players is comprised every year with the final list of candidates usually available around October and the award ceremony typically taking place in November or December.

Golden Boy winner 2023

Jude Bellingham was voted as The Golden Boy for 2023.

The Real Madrid star was handed the award in a ceremony in Turin on December 4, 2023, after emerging victorious from the 25-man shortlist.

Bayern's Jama Musiala came third and Leipzig's Xavi Simons finished third.

Golden Boy winner 2022

Barcelona midfielder Gavi won the 2022 Golden Boy trophy.

He became the third Barca player to lift the award after Lionel Messi in 2005 and Pedri in 2021.

He beat competition from three other high-quality finalists: Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund) and Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich).

Golden Boy award: Past winners

Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero are some of the players who won the award as youngsters and went on to become global stars.

There are some other impressive names among the past victors. Some other winners, though, did not go on to achieve their full potential.

That makes looking back through Golden Boy history an intriguing topic, with a real mix of names and outcomes proving that bursting onto the scene at a young age is not always a guarantee of long-term success.

As with most awards, the forward players tend to take centre stage, with 10 of the previous 21 winners being attacking stars.

Matthijs de Ligt became the first defender to win in 2018 after a series of stellar performances in Ajax’s fairytale Champions League run and eight midfielders have also come out on top.

A goalkeeper has never finished in first place.

Spain has produced the most winners with four. In 2022, Gavi joined Pedri, Cesc Fabregas and Isco as victors from Spain, taking the country one clear of France and England on three winners. Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial have won it for France, while Wayne Rooney, Raheem Sterling and Jude Bellingham have won the award for England..

Remarkably, there has never been a winner from Belgium despite their recent golden generation.

Manchester United and Barcelona are the clubs who have had the most winners. Three players have triumphed for the Red Devils: Wayne Rooney (2004), Anderson (2008) and Martial (2015). Barcelona's trio includes Lionel Messi in 2005, Pedri in 2021 and Gavi in 2022.

Fascinatingly, Cristiano Ronaldo was never named as European football's Golden Boy.