Mbappe Leads Group; Pulisic, Weah Miss Cut as Golden Boy Shortlist is Trimmed

Kylian Mbappe is hoping to become the first player to win the Golden Boy award–given to the world's top player under 21–multiple times.

Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United stars are among the talented young players to have made the final cut for the 2018 Golden Boy award.

The original list of 40 names has been whittled down to just 20 for the prestigious accolade, with the winner to be announced later in the year.

Presented each season to the best player in Europe aged 21 or under, the likes of Vinicius Junior, Phil Foden, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Dalot and Justin Kluivert are all still in with a chances of joining past winners Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.

Mbappe himself is also on the list and could become the first player to win twice after his incredible performances for a victorious France team at the World Cup during the summer.

Tuttosport, the publication that created the award in 2003, has also named Patrick Cutrone of Milan, Everton youngster Tom Davies, Dayot Upamencano of Red Bull Leipzig and Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt on the reduced list.

Borussia Dortmund's Christian Pulisic, Paris Saint-Germain's Timothy Weah and Juventus' Moise Kean were the highest profile names not to make the cut from the 40-strong list.

Final 20 Nominees for 2018 Golden Boy Award: 

Player	Club	Nationality	Date of Birth
Trent Alexander-Arnold (DF)	Liverpool	English	7th October 1998
Kelvin Amian (DF)	Toulouse	French	8th February 1998
Houssem Aouar (MF)	Lyon	French	30th June 1998
Josip Brekalo (FW)	Wolfsburg	Croatian	23rd June 1998
Patrick Cutrone (FW)	Milan	Italian	2nd January 1998
Dani Olmo (FW)	Dinamo Zagreb	Spanish	7th May 1998
Tom Davies (MF)	Everton	English	30th June 1998
Matthijs de Ligt (DF)	Ajax	Dutch	12th August 1999
Diogo Dalot (DF)	Manchester United	Portuguese	18th Match 1999
Eder Militao (DF)	Porto	Brazilian	18th January 1998
Odsonne Edouard (FW)	Celtic	French	16th January 1998
Phil Foden (MF)	Manchester City	English	28th May 2000
Gedson Fernandes (MF)	Benfica	Portuguese	9th January 1999
Amadou Haidara (MF)	Red Bull Salzburg	Malian	31st January 1998
Achraf Hakimi (DF)	Borussia Dortmund	Moroccan	4th November 1998
Nanitamo Ikone (MF)	Lille	French	2nd May 1998
Justin Kluivert (FW)	Roma	Dutch	5th May 1999
Kylian Mbappe (FW)	Paris Saint-Germain	French	20th December 1998
Dayot Upamecano (DF)	RB Leipzig	French	27th October 1998
Vinicius Junior (FW)	Real Madrid	Brazilian	12th July 2000

France Football, who oversees the Ballon d'Or, recently created its own similar award for players aged 21 or under, the Kopa Trophy, named for the late France legend Raymond Kopa.