Tuttosport reveals 25-man shortlist for 2026 European Golden Boy award

Announcement in Mestre

Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport announced the 25 finalists for the 2026 European Golden Boy award on Monday, 5 October 2026. The presentation took place at Villa Furstenberg, the headquarters of Banca Ifis in Mestre. The shortlist combines the top 20 players from the October update of the Golden Boy Top 100 ranking, developed with Transfermarkt, alongside five wild card entries selected from positions 21 to 100. To be eligible for the 2026 edition, players must be born on or after 1 January 2006 and play in one of UEFA's top 25 domestic leagues. Under tournament rules, previous winners cannot be nominated again, which excludes 2024 recipient Lamine Yamal despite his second-place ranking on the global index.

League and club distribution

England's Premier League leads all European competitions with eight shortlisted players. Spain's La Liga follows with six nominees, Germany's Bundesliga accounts for five, and Italy's Serie A provides three. FC Barcelona features three candidates on the list, including defender Pau Cubarsi, midfielder Marc Bernal, and wild card recipient Xavi Espart. Real Madrid is represented by Ivory Coast winger Yan Diomande, who completed a transfer from RB Leipzig for up to 140 million euros, alongside Brazilian forward Endrick. The combined market value of the 25 contenders reached 1.303 billion euros in October 2026, marking a 56.65% increase from 832.3 million euros recorded in January 2026.

Leading contenders and international spread

Fourteen countries have representatives among the finalists, led by Spain with four players, followed by Germany, Brazil, and France with three each, and Greece and Argentina with two each. Spain's Pau Cubarsi enters the voting after winning the Young Player of the Tournament award at the 2026 World Cup. French midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery returns to the shortlist after securing a second consecutive Champions League title with Paris Saint-Germain. He is joined by compatriots Joane Gadou of Borussia Dortmund and Bournemouth forward Eli Junior Kroupi, who scored 13 Premier League goals in the 2025–2026 campaign. Bayern Munich midfielder Lennart Karl, born on 22 February 2008, is the youngest finalist on the 2026 roster.

Wild cards and final voting process

The five wild card spots were allocated to Franco Mastantuono, Rodrigo Mora, Joane Gadou, Charalampos Kostoulas, and Xavi Espart. Portugal is represented by Roma midfielder Rodrigo Mora, alongside Portuguese league players Victor Froholdt of FC Porto and Gianluca Prestianni of Benfica. Prestianni recorded eight goals and three assists across 12 appearances for Benfica in the early 2026–2027 season. Several players from the preliminary 100-man list missed the final cut, including FC Porto trio William Gomes, Oskar Pietuszewski, and Martim Fernandes, as well as Chelsea winger Geovany Quenda. An international jury of 50 journalists from across Europe will cast ballots to determine the Absolute Best winner, who will be announced in November 2026 to succeed 2025 winner Desire Doue.