The 17-year-old has won this prestigious prize, just weeks after he claimed the Kopa Award.
The incredible rise of Lamine Yamal has been recognised with two individual awards: the 2024 Kopa Trophy which he collected at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris in October, and now the 2024 Golden Boy award, the honour handed out by Italian newspaper Tuttosport each year. Both of these prizes recognise the best Under-21 player of the year, and the FC Barcelona and Spain forward has claimed both.
The 17-year-old winger has had an incredible year. Not only has he become a regular starter for FC Barcelona, scoring 13 goals and providing 17 assists for the Catalan club since the start of the 2023/24 season, but Lamine Yamal also made key contributions to Spain’s victory at Euro 2024. He was named Young Player of the Tournament, thanks to his four assists and his incredible semi-final goal against France.
LALIGA’s dominance of the Golden Boy award
By winning this prize, Lamine Yamal continues the incredible run of LALIGA EA SPORTS players when it comes to the Golden Boy award. He is the fourth LALIGA footballer in a row to win it, after his Barça teammates Pedri and Gavi won it in 2021 and 2022, respectively, and after Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham claimed the honour in 2023.
Since the Golden Boy award was created in 2003, LALIGA EA SPORTS players have lifted it more than those from any other league. Lamine Yamal is the eighth player to receive this prize while playing in LALIGA EA SPORTS. The others have been: Lionel Messi (2005, FC Barcelona); Sergio Agüero (2007, Atlético de Madrid); Isco (2012, Málaga CF); João Félix (2019, Atlético de Madrid); Pedri (2021, FC Barcelona); Gavi (2022, FC Barcelona); and Jude Bellingham (2023, Real Madrid).
The 17-year-old is also the fifth Spaniard in history to be named the Golden Boy by the Tuttosport voters. In addition to the aforementioned Isco, Pedri and Gavi, the other Spaniard to claim this piece of hardware was Cesc FÃ bregas, the La Masia graduate who won the prize in 2006 while with Arsenal. FÃ bregas is one of six players to have been named the Golden Boy while playing for a club in the Premier League, which is the second-most successful competition in the history of this prize after the eight triumphs of LALIGA EA SPORTS players.
What’s more, even some of those who won the Golden Boy prize while playing for non-Spanish clubs have gone on to spend some time in LALIGA EA SPORTS. As well as Fà bregas, who went on to play for FC Barcelona, there was: Rafael van der Vaart, the 2003 winner with Ajax who later represented Real Madrid and Real Betis; Alexandre Pato, the 2009 winner with AC Milan who went on to play for Villarreal CF; Anthony Martial, the 2015 winner with Manchester United who had a loan spell with Sevilla FC; and Kylian Mbappé, the 2017 winner with PSG who now stars up front for Real Madrid.
In total, that means 13 of the 22 winners of the prize have spent at least part of their careers in the top division of Spanish football. That’s an incredible feat and highlights how fans of Spanish football have been able to enjoy the world’s top emerging talents week in week out.