The Golden Boy annual award recognizes the best young player (under the age of 21) in European football for a given calendar year.
The recipient of the Golden Boy award is chosen by a panel of sports journalists from various European newspapers. The panel creates a shortlist of 100 players, which is later narrowed down to a final list of 20 candidates.
The award aims to recognize and promote young talents who have shown exceptional performances and promise in their careers. It has become highly prestigious and is considered a significant accolade in the football world. Many previous winners of the Golden Boy award have gone on to achieve great success in their careers, becoming some of the most prominent footballers in the world.
Tuttosport has revealed the full list of candidates to receive the prestigious award.
The voting process among the fans is still ongoing. Back in August, Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala was considered the favorite to win the fans' vote with a 64.9% result, however, the latest incident regarding Barcelona youngster Alejandro Balde has now changed the situation.
In response to Balde's negative comments about Taylor Swift's music, fans of the pop superstar have initiated a social media campaign urging people to cast their votes in favor of Jude Bellingham in the Golden Boy 2023 fan vote. Bellingham is now among the frontrunners to win the supporters' vote for the Golden Boy award, though according to the latest stats, Balde is leading the race, according to Barca Universal Twitter page update.
Who won Golden Boy 2023?
Jude Bellingham wins the Golden Boy Award as best talent in the world for 2023. The award will be delivered in Turin on December 4.
Golden Boy 2023 ceremony
- Erling Haaland - Golden Player Man 2023!
- Aitana Bonmati - Golden Player Woman 2023!
- Lamin Yamal - The Youngest 2023!
- Giorgio Scalvini - Best Italian Player Under 21!
- Edu Gaspar - Best European Manager 2023!
- Tony Bloom - Best European President 2023!
- Chiara Beccari - Best Italian Girl Player Under 21!
- Linda Caicedo - Golden Girl Absolute Best!
- Ali Barat - Best Agent 2023!
- Cristiano Giuntoli - Greatest Challenge of the year!
20 finalists for Golden Boy 2023
1 Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)
2 Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
3 Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig)
4 Antonio Silva (Benfica)
5 Alejandro Balde (Barcelona)
6 Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
7 Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig)
8 Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta)
9 Rasmus Hojlund (Manchester United)
10 Levi Colwill (Chelsea)
11 Johan Berkayoko (PSV)
12 Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth)
13 Arthur Vermeeren (Royal Antwerp)
14 Evan Ferguson (Brighton)
15 Lucas Gourna- Douath (RB Salzburg)
16 Warren Zaire-Emery (PSG)
17 Ousmane Diomande (Sporting)
18 Arnau Martinez (Girona)
19 Mathys Tel (Bayern Munich)
20 Andy Diouf (Lens)
Golden Boy 2023 Nominees
100 - Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg)
99 - Lucas Netz (Borussia Moenchengladbach)
98 - Carney Chukwuemeka (Chelsea)
97 - Matias Soule (Juventus)
96 - Maximo Perrone (Manchester City)
95 - Lewis Hall (Chelsea)
94 -Ousmane Diomandé (Sporting Lisbon)
93 - Désiré Doué (Rennes)
92 - Samuel Iling-Junior (Juventus)
91 - Mohamed-Ali Cho (Real Sociedad)
90 - Odin Holm (Valerenga)
89 - Valentin Carboni (Inter)
88 - Arsen Zakharyan (Dinamo Moscow)
87 - Kevin Jesus Kelsy (Shakhtar Donetsk)
86 - Facundo Buonanotte (Brighton)
85 - Habib Diarra (Strasburg)
84 - Luka Stojkovic (NK Lokomotiva)
83 - Tobias Slotsager (Odense Boldklub)
82 - Ervin Omic (Wolfsberger)
81 - Alexander Busch (Silkeborg)
80 - Isaak Touré (Auxerre)
79 - Kacper Kozlowski (Vitesse)
78 - Arda Guler (Fenerbahçe)
77 - Marcus Baggesen (IFK Norrkoping)
76 - Mathias Lovik (Molde)
74 - Tim Oermann (Germania, Wolfsberger). Golden Boy Rating: 64,6
73 - Otto Rosengren (Mjallby)
72 - Filip Sidklev (IF Brommapojkarna)
71 - Noah Persson (Young Boys)
70 - Wilfried Gnonto (Leeds)
69 - Oscar Gloukh (Salisburgo)
68 - Victor Lind (IFK Norrkoping)
67 - Romeo Lavia (Southampton)
66 - Elye Sepe Wahi (Montpellier)
65 - Yossoufa Moukoko (Borussia Dortmund)
64 - Lucas Boel Hey (Lyngby BK)
63 - Viktor Melekhin (Rostov)
62 - Joao Neves (Benfica)
61 - Petar Ratkov (Backa Topola)
60 - Tommaso Baldanzi (Empoli)
59 - Christopher Bonsu Baah (Sarpsborg)
58 - Johan Bangsbo (Goteborg)
57 - Sael Kumbedi Nseke (Lyon)
56 - Valdemar Lund Jensen (Copenhagen)
55 - Aurele Amenda (Young Boys)
54 - Maksym Dyachuk (Dinamo Kiev)
53 - William Clem (Copenhagen)
52 - Stefan Lekovic (Stella Rossa)
51 - Lesley Ugochukwu (Rennes)
49 - El Chadaille Bitshiabu (PSG)
48 - Julio Cesar Enciso (Brighton)
47 - Christos Zafeiris (Slavia Praga)
46 - Veljko Ilic (Backa Topola)
45 - Andy Alune Diouf (Basilea)
44 - Evan Ferguson (Brighton)
43 - Pavlo Isenko (Vorskla Poltava)
42 - Bilal El Khannous (Genk)
41 - Amane Romeo (BK Hacken)
40 - Fabio Miretti (Juventus)
39 - Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (Borussia Dortmund)
38 - Maurits Kjaergaard (Salisburgo)
37 - Matija Frigan (Rijeka)
36 - Hugo Larsson (Malmö)
35 - Ariel Mosor (Piast Gliwice)
34 - Robert Renan (Zenit)
33 - Oleksandr Saputin (Zorya Lugansk)
32 - Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United)
31 - Mathys Tel (Bayern Monaco)
30 - Johan Bakayoko (PSV Eindhoven)
29 - Bjorn Meijer (Club Brugge)
28 - Zeno Debast (Anderlecht)
27 - Ismael Doukouré (Strasburgo)
26 - Ernest Nuamah (Nordsjaelland)
25 - Martin Vitik (Sparta Praha)
24 - Warren Zaire-Emery (PSG)
23 - Levi Colwill (Brighton)
22 - Martin Baturina (Dinamo Zagreb)
21 - Stefan Bajcetic (Liverpool)
20 - Elias Jelert (Copenhagen)
19 - Emanuel Emegha (Sturm Graz)
18 - Arnau Martinez (Girona)
17 - Rico Lewis (Manchester City)
16 - Rasmus Hojlund (Atalanta)
15 - Milos Kerkez (AZ Alkmaar)
14 - Harvey Elliott (Liverpool)
13 - Ryan Cherki (Lyon)
12 - Arthur Vermeeren (Anversa)
11 - Lucas Gourna-Douath (Salisburg)
10 - Giorgio Sclavini (Atalanta)
9 - Devyne Rensch (Ajax)
8 - Benjamin Sesko (Salisburg)
7 - Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
6 - Xavi Simons (PSV Eindhoven)
5 - Alejandro Balde (Barcelona)
4 - Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig)
3 - Giorgio Scalvini (Benfica)
2 - Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
1 - Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)
How to vote for Golden Boy 2023?
The winner of Golden Boy The award is decided by a panel of sports journalists from various European newspapers who have the privilege of voting for their preferred players.
The panel creates a shortlist of 100 players, which is later narrowed down to a final list of 20 candidates. Journalists then vote for their top three choices, allocating five points to the first choice, three points to the second, and one point to the third. The player with the highest number of votes is declared the winner.
It should be noted that the voting process would be open to football fans as well on the official website of Tuttosport. The link for the Golden Boy 2023 voting is now available.
Previous Golden Boy winners
| 2003 | Rafael van der Vaart | Netherlands |
| 2004 | Wayne Rooney | England |
| 2005 | Lionel Messi | Argentina |
| 2006 | Cesc Fabregas | Spain |
| 2007 | Sergio Aguero | Argentina |
| 2008 | Anderson | Brazil |
| 2009 | Alexandre Pato | Brazi |
| 2010 | Mario Balotelli | Italy |
| 2011 | Mario Gotze | Germany |
| 2012 | Isco | Spain |
| 2013 | Paul Pogba | France |
| 2014 | Raheem Sterling | England |
| 2015 | Anthony Martial | France |
| 2016 | Renato Sanches | Portugal |
| 2017 | Kylian Mbappe | France |
| 2018 | Matthijs de Ligt | Netherlands |
| 2019 | Joao Felix | Portugal |
| 2020 | Erling Haaland | Norway |
| 2021 | Pedri | Spain |
| 2022 | Gavi | Spain |