France Football

Young Talent Trophy Regulations

Article 1. The Young Talent Trophy is organized every year by the monthly magazine France Football.

Article 2. The Young Talent Trophy rewards the best male and female prospect under the age of 21 as of July 31, 2026, regardless of league or nationality.

Article 3. The reference period covers the entirety of last season, from August 3, 2025 to July 19, 2026, including international competitions (World Cup and AFCON for men; Asian Cup and the Nations League final phase for women). The Women's AFCON, which ended on August 16, will count toward the current season.

Article 4. The Young Talent Trophy is awarded based on three criteria, in order of importance: 1. Individual performances, decisive and impressive character. 2. Collective performances and titles won. 3. Class and fair play.

Article 5. The men's winner is chosen by a grand jury made up exclusively of former Ballon d'Or winners.

Article 6. Each Ballon d'Or winner names three players in descending order of merit from a list of ten nominees, drawn up by the France Football editorial staff, members of the L'Équipe editorial staff, at least one juror from the previous edition, and UEFA ambassadors Luis Figo and Fabio Capello.

Article 7. The three players named are awarded 5, 3, and 1 points respectively. The trophy is awarded to the player with the highest total number of points.

Article 8. The women's winner is chosen by a grand jury made up of former Women's Ballon d'Or winners, other players who have finished on the Women's Ballon d'Or podium since its creation in 2018, and one editor-in-chief of France Football.

Article 9. Each juror names two players in descending order of merit from a list of five nominees, drawn up by the France Football editorial staff, members of the L'Équipe editorial staff, at least one juror from the previous edition, and UEFA ambassador Nadine Kessler.

Article 10. The two players named are awarded 2 and 1 points respectively. The trophy is awarded to the player with the highest total number of points.

Article 11. In the event of a tie among the men, players are separated by the number of first-place mentions. If the tie persists, by the number of second-place mentions. In the event of a tie among the women, players are separated by the number of first-place mentions. If the tie persists, it will be settled by the France Football editorial management.

Article 12. Any dispute is settled by the Editor-in-Chief of France Football as organizer.