Italian newspaper Tuttosport has revealed the 25 nominees for the 2026 Golden Boy award. An award that rewards the best player under the age of 21.
PSG’s Desire Doue won the award last year and there would be a new winner this year.
Barcelona have three players on the list with Pau Cubarsi, Marc Bernal and Xavi Espart representing the Spanish giant.
Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly and Real Madrid’s Yan Diomande are also among the 25 nominees for the 2026 Golden Boy Award.
Three French talents feature on this list. Borussia Dortmund’s centre-back Joane Gadou, Paris Saint-Germain versatile midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery and Bournemouth striker Eli Junior Kroupi.
Manchester City midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, and Chelsea winger Estêvão also feature on the list.
Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona is presented with the Golden Boy 2024 award. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
2026 Golden Boy nominees
- Pau Cubarsí (Barcelona)
- Ayyoub Bouaddi (Manchester City)
- Warren Zaïre-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain)
- Yan Diomande (Real Madrid)
- Luka Vuškovic (Brighton)
- Victor Froholdt (Porto)
- Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal)
- Rayan (Bournemouth)
- Jorrel Hato (Chelsea)
- Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich)
- Estêvão (Chelsea)
- Endrick (Real Madrid)
- Junior Kroupi (Bournemouth)
- Gianluca Prestianni (Benfica)
- Konstantinos Karetsas (Borussia Dortmund)
- Saïd El Mala (FC Köln)
- Jon Martín (Real Sociedad)
- Marc Bernal (Barcelona)
- Kerim Alajbegović (Juventus)
- Finn Jeltsch (Stuttgart)
Former winners include Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Lamine Yamal and Wayne Rooney.
For a player to be considered for selection in 2026, they must have been born on or after January 1, 2006, and belong to a squad in one of UEFA’s top 25 leagues (based on coefficients). A player cannot win the award twice, so despite remaining eligible by age, 2024 winner Yamal is not nominated.
