New Delhi: The Golden Boy is one of the most prestigious awards to be won for an under-21 footballer. There have been many winners of this prize who have gone on to become legends in the future. Lionel Messi won the award in 2005.
The Golden Boy award is a recognition of the best young talent in Europe during a calendar year. A player must be under the age of 21 to be eligible for consideration and must play in a European top division club. The inaugural edition of the award was held in 2003 with Rafael van der Vaart as the first winner. It is organized by the Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport.
How to determine the winner?
The winner is determined by votes. Each voter will allocate 10 points to the player they deem most impressive, with seven for the second, five for the third, three for the fourth, and one for the fifth. Sports journalists from Europe’s biggest media houses get to cast their vote for this award.
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Club |
National Team |
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Karim Adeyemi |
RB Salzburg |
Nigeria |
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Jude Bellingham |
Borussia Dortmund |
England |
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Eduardo Camavinga |
Real Madrid |
France |
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Martin Baturina |
Dinamo Zagreb |
Croatia |
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Alejandro Martinez Balde |
Barcelona |
Spain |
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Brian Brobbey |
RB Leipzig |
Netherlands |
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Matteo Cancellieri |
Verona |
Italy |
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Anthony Elanga |
Manchester United |
Sweden |
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Harvey Elliott |
Liverpool |
England |
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Sebastiano Esposito |
Anderlecht |
Italy |
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Fabio Carvalho |
Liverpool |
Portugal |
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Fabio Silva |
Anderlecht |
Portugal |
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Ansu Fati |
Barcelona |
Spain |
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Gavi |
Barcelona |
Spain |
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Degnand Gnonto |
Zurich |
Italy |
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Ryan Gravenberch |
Bayern Munich |
Netherlands |
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Josko Gvardiol |
RB Leipzig |
Croatia |
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Henrique Araujo |
Benfica |
Portugal |
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Piero Hincapie |
Bayer Leverkusen |
Ecuador |
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Rasmus Hojlund |
Atalanta |
Denmark |
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Ansgar Knauff |
Eintracht Frankfurt |
Ghana |
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Castello Lukeba |
Lyon |
France |
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Marcus Marquinhos |
Arsenal |
Brazil |
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Fabio Miretti |
Juventus |
Italy |
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Yunus Musah |
Valencia |
United States |
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Jamal Muisala |
Bayern Munich |
Nigeria |
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Nico Gonzalez |
Valencia |
Spain |
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Nuno Mendes |
PSG |
Portugal |
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Pedri |
Barcelona |
Spain |
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Yeremi Pino |
Villarreal |
Spain |
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Gio Reyna |
Borussia Dortmund |
United States |
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Giorgio Scalvini |
Atalanta |
Italy |
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Benjamin Sesko |
RB Salzburg |
Slovenia |
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Jan Thielmann |
FC Koln |
Germany |
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Destiny Udogie |
Udinese |
Italy |
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Nicola Zalewski |
Roma |
Poland |
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Mathys Tel |
Bayern Munich |
France |
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Kiliann Eric Sildillia |
SC Freiburg |
France |
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Xavier Simons |
PSV |
Suriname |
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Luka Sucic |
RB Salzburg |
Croatia |
Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, and Sergio Aguero are some of the prominent names to have won the Golden Boy award.
Forwards have predominantly won the award whereas Matthijs de Ligt became the first defender to win it in 2018.
France and Spain have produced the maximum winners with three each to their name, while Manchester United are the most successful club with three winners.
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Year |
Name |
Country |
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2003 |
Rafael van der Vaart |
Netherlands |
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2004 |
Wayne Rooney |
England |
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2005 |
Lionel Messi |
Argentina |
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2006 |
Cesc Fabregas |
Spain |
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2007 |
Sergio Aguero |
Argentina |
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2008 |
Anderson |
Brazil |
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2009 |
Alexandre Pato |
Brazil |
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2010 |
Mario Balotelli |
Italy |
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2011 |
Mario Gotze |
Germany |
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2012 |
Isco |
Spain |
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2013 |
Paul Pogba |
France |
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2014 |
Raheem Sterling |
England |
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2015 |
Anthony Martial |
France |
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2016 |
Renato Sanches |
Portugal |
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2017 |
Kylian Mbappe |
France |
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2018 |
Matthijs de Ligt |
Netherlands |
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2019 |
Joao Felix |
Portugal |
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2020 |
Erling Haaland |
Norway |
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2021 |
Pedri |
Spain |
To vote you can go to the official website of Tuttosport.
