The ballot we would cast for the Golden Boy 2026 puts Pau Cubarsí first, as most ballots will, so the contest worth arguing about is the order behind him. On 27 October Mundo Deportivo reported that Cubarsí will win; the organisers have not named a winner yet, and the 2025 winner was announced on 4 November. Scout Gamer has no vote; this is that ballot in the jury's own format, published before the official announcement so it can be checked against it. (Figures as of 2 November 2026.)
Our Ballot, Scored 10-7-5-3-1
10
Pau Cubarsí
Barcelona · EA FC 27: 86
7
Yan Diomande
Real Madrid · EA FC 27: 84
5
Warren Zaïre-Emery
Paris Saint-Germain · EA FC 27: 83
3
Ayyoub Bouaddi
Manchester City · EA FC 27: 80
1
Victor Froholdt
Porto · EA FC 27: 82
Why the Ballot Starts at Number Two
Each of the 50 jurors names five of the 25 finalists, scored 10, 7, 5, 3 and 1. In 2025 that produced a landslide and a scrum: Désiré Doué took 450 of a possible 500, then Arda Güler had 163, Cubarsí 161 and Dean Huijsen 160, three places settled by three points. Two obvious names are missing this time. Lamine Yamal, second in the award's October top-100 index, won in 2024, and nobody can win twice; Désiré Doué is a past winner, and too old as well. Behind Cubarsí and Yamal, Bouaddi, Zaïre-Emery and Diomande make up the rest of the index top five, and all three are on our ballot.
10 Points: Pau Cubarsí, the Easy Part
Cubarsí led the index in September and October, and his year fits in a sentence: every minute of Spain's eight World Cup matches, the 120-minute final included, FIFA's Young Player Award, and 48 appearances for Barcelona. One honest note: our Kopa Trophy ballot of 20 October had him first, a week before Mundo Deportivo's report. He would not be the first defender to win it: Matthijs de Ligt did in 2018.
7 Points: Yan Diomande, the Breakout Year
At RB Leipzig he scored 12 Bundesliga goals and was the league's Rookie of the Season. In August Real Madrid signed him in a reported club-record deal, €125m up front according to ESPN, and he has three goals and two assists in 11 LaLiga games so far. Mundo Deportivo names him as one of Cubarsí's three rivals. We put him above Zaïre-Emery for the breakout itself: one Bundesliga season was enough for Real Madrid to pay €125m up front.
5 Points: Warren Zaïre-Emery, the Workload
No other finalist played more minutes for a European club last season: 4,224 across 54 games for Paris Saint-Germain, ending in a second Champions League, won on penalties against Arsenal, before France reached the World Cup semi-finals. In late October PSG used him at left-back, then as an eight in a midfield three. We count the range in his favour; the Kopa jury put him third.
3 Points: Ayyoub Bouaddi, the World Cup Vote
Bouaddi's case is the summer. After 42 games for Lille he made his World Cup debut for Morocco, against Brazil, and helped them to the quarter-finals. Manchester City then paid £85.6m including add-ons, a Premier League record for a teenager. He has started two of his five Premier League games, which is why he is fourth, not higher.
1 Point: Victor Froholdt, the Card's Pick
The pick we expect the jury not to make: Mundo Deportivo does not name him among Cubarsí's three rivals. He drove Porto's midfield to their 31st league title, with eight goals and seven assists in 51 games, and has three goals in nine league starts this season. His 82 is the fourth-highest card among the 25, and in our FC 27 wonderkids list we still called it a level too low.
| Player | Club | FC 27 | Our points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pau Cubarsí | Barcelona | 86 | 10 |
| Yan Diomande | Real Madrid | 84 | 7 |
| Warren Zaïre-Emery | Paris Saint-Germain | 83 | 5 |
| Victor Froholdt | Porto | 82 | 1 |
| Luka Vušković | Brighton | 81 | — |
| Ayyoub Bouaddi | Manchester City | 80 | 3 |
| Estêvão | Chelsea | 80 | — |
| Eli Junior Kroupi | Bournemouth | 80 | — |
| Rayan | Bournemouth | 79 | — |
| Endrick | Real Madrid | 79 | — |
| Myles Lewis-Skelly | Arsenal | 78 | — |
| Jorrel Hato | Chelsea | 78 | — |
| Saïd El Mala | 1. FC Köln | 78 | — |
| Jon Martín | Real Sociedad | 78 | — |
| Marc Bernal | Barcelona | 78 | — |
| Lennart Karl | Bayern Munich | 77 | — |
| Franco Mastantuono | Fiorentina (loan from Real Madrid) | 77 | — |
| Rodrigo Mora | Roma | 77 | — |
| Konstantinos Karetsas | Borussia Dortmund | 76 | — |
| Gianluca Prestianni | Benfica | 75 | — |
| Finn Jeltsch | VfB Stuttgart | 75 | — |
| Charalampos Kostoulas | Brighton | 73 | — |
| Kerim Alajbegović | Juventus | 71 | — |
| Joane Gadou | Borussia Dortmund | 68 | — |
| Xavi Espart | Barcelona | 67 | — |
Where the Card and the Jury Will Part
The game agrees with the expected winner: Cubarsí's 86 is the highest card among the finalists. Below him, the card and the jury are likely to part.
- Lennart Karl, 77. Named by Mundo Deportivo as a rival, joint 16th on the card. He had nine goals and eight assists for Bayern last season before a thigh tear cost him the World Cup. The Kopa jury put him fourth when his card was ninth of ten.
- Ayyoub Bouaddi, 80. Joint sixth on the card, but in the index top five and on Mundo Deportivo's list of rivals. We rate him above the game, as the jury probably will.
- Victor Froholdt, 82. The reverse: fourth on the card, but not among Mundo Deportivo's rivals. If the jury leaves him out of its top five, this is where we sided with the card.
- The lowest cards. Xavi Espart (67), Joane Gadou (68) and Charalampos Kostoulas (73) are three of the bottom four, all three wild cards, which Tuttosport hands to players from lower down the index. The fourth, Kerim Alajbegović (71), scored 13 goals for Salzburg and a long-range World Cup goal against Qatar; the Kopa jury put him seventh.
Golden Boy 2026: Quick Answers
When is the Golden Boy 2026 winner announced?
The organisers say the Golden Boy 2026 winner will be announced in November; the 2025 winner, Désiré Doué, was announced on 4 November 2025. The 2026 ceremony is in Turin in December.
Who votes for the Golden Boy, and how?
The Golden Boy 2026 is decided by a jury of 50 journalists from 27 countries. Each names five of the 25 finalists, scored 10, 7, 5, 3 and 1, so the maximum is 500 points.
Who can win the Golden Boy 2026?
One of the 25 Golden Boy 2026 finalists named on 5 October 2026: players born in 2006 or later, at clubs in one of Europe's 25 strongest top-flight leagues, who have not won the award before.
Why can't Lamine Yamal or Désiré Doué win the Golden Boy 2026?
The Golden Boy can be won only once: Yamal won it in 2024 and Doué in 2025. Doué, born in 2005, is also too old for the 2026 edition, which is open to players born in 2006 or later.
Who won the Golden Boy in 2025?
Désiré Doué of Paris Saint-Germain won the 2025 Golden Boy with 450 of a possible 500 points, ahead of Arda Güler, Pau Cubarsí and Dean Huijsen.
How is the Golden Boy different from the Kopa Trophy?
The Kopa Trophy is voted on by former Ballon d'Or winners, three names each, and can be won more than once: Lamine Yamal won it in 2024, 2025 and 2026. The Golden Boy is voted by journalists, five names each, and nobody wins it twice.
Our read. Cubarsí first is the safe vote, and the right one. The rest is where this ballot takes its risks: Diomande above Zaïre-Emery, Bouaddi in the top four, and Froholdt, whom Mundo Deportivo leaves off its list of rivals. Once the result is out, we will set the jury's ranking against these five names, as we did the day after the Kopa Trophy.
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