Why Lamine Yamal Didn’t Win the 2025 Golden Boy Award

The Golden Boy has recognized the best young talent playing in Europe since 2003.

Lamine Yamal is one of the best players in the world of any age. / Maria Gracia Jimenez/Soccrates/Getty Images

Désiré Doué was crowned 2025’s Golden Boy on Tuesday, earning the status of Europe’s best player under the age of 21. The Paris Saint-Germain forward enjoyed a glittering 2024–25 but arguably only won the award because Lamine Yamal was ineligble.

Yamal’s status as one of the best footballers on the planet is not in doubt. The Barcelona and Spain prodigy only became a legal adult over the summer, but he placed second in the recent 2025 Ballon d’Or standings—and plenty thought he deserved to win it.

Yet the list of nominations for the 2025 edition of the Golden Boy, the prize handed annually to the best young player at a European club, did not even feature his name.

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To qualify for the Golden Boy, presided over by Italian newspaper Tuttosport and voted for by journalists from leading publications across Europe, you must be under the age of 21 and play for a club in a top flight league somewhere in the continent.

Yamal won in 2024 and therein lies the overriding reason for his omission this time. Aside from age and geography, the other qualifying factor is that no one is eligible to be named the Golden Boy more than once in their career. No exceptions.

Yamal, although unquestionably the best young player in the world, cannot scoop the trophy a second time. It arguably skews it, because Doué is not truly the ‘Golden Boy’.

On the other hand, it gives others a chance and avoids the award becoming a monopoly—it has been argued by some that the Ballon d’Or should follow similar rules given how no one other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo laid hands on the trophy after 2007 until 2018.

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Past Golden Boy Winners

Yamal is no longer eligible because of his 2024 win. / Alex Caparros/Getty Images

The Golden Boy award was conceived in 2003 and has been won by those who went on to become legends of the game, as well as those who ultimately failed to deliver on their world-class potential.

Year	Player	Club
2003	Rafael van der Vaart	Ajax
2004	Wayne Rooney	Everton/Man Utd
2005	Lionel Messi	Barcelona
2006	Cesc Fàbregas	Arsenal
2007	Sergio Agüero	Atlético Madrid
2008	Anderson	Man Utd
2009	Alexandre Pato	AC Milan
2010	Mario Balotelli	Inter
2011	Mario Götze	Borussia Dortmund
2012	Isco	Málaga
2013	Paul Pogba	Juventus
2014	Raheem Sterling	Liverpool
2015	Anthony Martial	Monaco/Man Utd
2016	Renato Sanches	Benfica/Bayern Munich
2017	Kylian Mbappé	Monaco/PSG
2018	Matthijs de Ligt	Ajax
2019	João Félix	Benfica/Atlético Madrid
2020	Erling Haaland	Borussia Dortmund
2021	Pedri	Barcelona
2022	Gavi	Barcelona
2023	Jude Bellingham	Borussia Dortmund
2024	Lamine Yamal	Barcelona
2025	Désiré Doué	PSG

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Two-Time Kopa Trophy Winner

Yamal won his second Kopa Trophy in 2025. / FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images

The Kopa Trophy, which is the equivalent young player award under the Ballon d’Or brand, has no one-win rule. As such, Yamal could feasibly dominate it for years to come.

The Barcelona winger picked up the Kopa Trophy by huge margins in both 2024 and 2025. The age limit is 21, with Yamal not due to celebrate that landmark birthday until after the 2027–28 season has finished, meaning he could very well have five Kopa triumphs before becoming too old.

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