- The Golden Boy award is given to the best young footballer in Europe.
- The 2025 Golden Boy award honors the best young, talented footballer from Europe and has been awarded since 2003.
As the football leagues in Europe have finished for 2024/2025, it is time to take a look at the candidates for the Golden Boy award. As the Golden Boy award can not be won by the same player, it means Lamine Yamal is not able to lift the award this year.
The prestigious Golden Boy award ceremony will take place with the Ballon d’Or event this year in Paris. This event was introduced back in 2003 to honor the best young talent in European football. Last year, Lamine Yamal won the award, and before him, 22 names have won the award. It was introduced by Italian newspaper Tuttosport and has grown to involve votes from other publications such as Bild in Germany, L’Equipe in France, and The Times in the UK.
At the moment, the most likely candidates are Pau Cubarsi from Barcelona, who is only 18 years of age. Joao Neves is a 20-year-old Portuguese standout performer playing for PSG. The final candidate is another player from PSG, Desire Doue. The player was voted man of the match in the 2025 Champions League final.