The 2025 Golden Boy nominees were revealed Wednesday, but notably missing from the list was Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal since he previously won it.
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, conspicuously did not feature his name.
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 whoever does win in 2025 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.
Past Golden Boy Winners
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.
Two-Time Kopa Trophy Winner
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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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Lamine Yamal Isn't Nominated for the 2025 Golden Boy Award.