Golden Boy 2026: Full List of Nominees

Almost one-third of this year’s 25 Golden Boy nominees for the best U-21 male player on the planet ply their trade in the Premier League.

While Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City all boast burgeoning young stars, it is the data-driven duo of Bournemouth and Brighton & Hove Albion who share four of the nominees between them.

Beyond the Premier League borders, Barcelona have an unrivaled three nominees within their own ranks—although Lamine Yamal is not one of them. While the World Cup winner’s focus will be on the adult version of this award, the Ballon d’Or, his compatriot and clubmate Pau Cubarsí is the favorite to claim the baby brother iteration at the ceremony in November.

2026 Golden Boy Nominees

Pau Cubarsí posing with his trophy. — Pau Cubarsí was voted the best young player of the 2026 World Cup. | Alex Pantling/FIFA/Getty Images

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)

The top 20 in the Golden Boy award are decided by the organizer’s partner Transfermarkt. The soccer statistics website has progressively updated a list of the best players on the planet across the previous 12 months through a data-led methodology to spew out a shortlist.

The final snapshot was taken at the start of October and included a glut of intriguing youngsters. Stuttgart’s Finn Jeltsch, the darling of the transfer rumormill, is joined by fellow gossip column staples Endrick, Junior Kroupi and Jon Martín.

The World Cup boosted the profile of several nominees. Kerim Alajbegović’s unprecedented run to the knockouts with Bosnia and Herzegovina didn’t hurt, while the Ivorian Yan Diomande and Morocco gem Ayyoub Bouaddi all shone this summer. They all also managed to secure lucrative transfers to some of Europe’s elite, which represents a more tangible reward than the Golden Boy trophy.

Gianluca Prestianni undoubtedly represents the most intriguing nominee. The Benfica forward reached a global audience for his alleged racial abuse of Vinícius Júnior in a Champions League tie against Real Madrid. Prestianni’s argument, which UEFA accepted, was that he had actually used a homophobic slur.

Wild Cards

Charalampos Kostoulas (Brighton)
Joane Gadou (Borussia Dortmund)
Franco Mastantuono (Fiorentina)
Rodrigo Mora (Roma)
Xavi Espart (Barcelona)

On top of the top 20, there are five additional slots awarded to “wild cards” selected by a shadowy panel to complete the nominees.

How Voting Works

The Golden Boy award. — The Golden Boy award has been dished out since 2003. | Richard Sellers/EMPICS/Getty Images

This award, which was originally launched by the Italian paper Tuttosport, has undergone many various guises. The current iteration takes on a similar system to its Ballon d’Or counterpart, with the fan say going to journalists.

A total of 50 different reporters from across Europe will be polled to decided who gets to keep the imaginatively named “Absolute Best award.”

There is a separate award dished out by an online vote known as the Golden Boy Fan Web Award. Intriguingly, Olympiacos midfielder Christos Mouzakitis is the defending champion of a prize previously claimed by the likes of Kenan Yıldız and Jude Bellingham.

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