Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year

The UNFP Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year is an official award given by the Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels (UNFP) to a player aged 23 years or under at the start of the season whose performances are considered to be the best in Ligue 1, France's top professional football league. The inaugural award was handed to French midfielder Zinedine Zidane of Bordeaux, following the 1993–94 French Division 1 season.[1] It has been awarded ever since its inception, with the exception of the 2019−20 season, where the competition was abruptly cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.[2]

Ligue 1 Young Player of the season
Zinedine Zidane won the inaugural award in 1994 with Bordeaux.
SportAssociation football
LeagueLigue 1
Awarded forbeing the best performing player in a Ligue 1 season whilst aged 23 years or under at the start of the season.
CountryFrance
Presented byUnion Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels
History
First award1994 (1994)
Editions29 (as of 2023)
First winnerFrance Zinedine Zidane
Most winsFrance Kylian Mbappé (3 awards)
Most recentPortugal Nuno Mendes (2022–23)

The award has been given to 26 different players over the course of 29 seasons, with only Eden Hazard and Kylian Mbappé winning the award on more than one occasion. Of these players, only Mbappé has won the award three times. Hazard (Belgium), Marco Verratti (Italy), Younès Belhanda (Morocco) and Nuno Mendes (Portugal) are the only awardees who do not represent France at an international level.

During the 2019−20 season, Mbappé became the first and only player in the history of the UNFP Awards to win both; Young Player and Player of the Season, in the same edition

Paris Saint-Germain defender Nuno Mendes is the most recent winner of the award, which was awarded to him for his performances in the 2022–23 Ligue 1 season.[3]

Winners
Kylian Mbappé has the most wins by a single player in the history of the awards, with three.
Award recipients
Season Player Nationality Club Position Ref.
1993–94 Zinedine Zidane  France Bordeaux Midfielder [1]
1994–95 Florian Maurice  France Lyon Forward [1]
1995–96 Robert Pires  France Metz Forward [1]
1996–97 Thierry Henry  France Monaco Forward [1]
1997–98 David Trezeguet  France Monaco Forward [1]
1998–99 Olivier Monterrubio  France Nantes Midfielder [1]
1999–2000 Philippe Christanval  France Monaco Defender [1]
2000–01 Sidney Govou  France Lyon Forward [1]
2001–02 Djibril Cissé  France Auxerre Forward [1]
2002–03 Lionel Mathis  France Auxerre Midfielder [1]
2003–04 Patrice Evra  France Monaco Defender [1]
2004–05 Jérémy Toulalan  France Nantes Midfielder [1]
2005–06 Franck Ribéry  France Marseille Forward [1]
2006–07 Samir Nasri  France Marseille Midfielder [1]
2007–08 Hatem Ben Arfa  France Lyon Forward [1]
2008–09 Eden Hazard  Belgium Lille Forward [1]
2009–10 Eden Hazard (2)  Belgium Lille Forward [1]
2010–11 Mamadou Sakho  France Paris Saint-Germain Defender [1]
2011–12 Younès Belhanda  Morocco Montpellier Midfielder [4]
2012–13 Florian Thauvin  France Bastia Forward [5]
2013–14 Marco Verratti  Italy Paris Saint-Germain Midfielder [6]
2014–15 Nabil Fekir  France Lyon Forward [7]
2015–16 Ousmane Dembélé  France Rennes Forward [8]
2016−17 Kylian Mbappé  France Monaco Forward [9]
2017−18 Kylian Mbappé (2)  France Paris Saint-Germain Forward [10]
2018−19 Kylian Mbappé (3)  France Paris Saint-Germain Forward [11]
2019−20 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic [2]
2020−21 Aurélien Tchouaméni  France Monaco Midfielder [12]
2021−22 William Saliba  France Marseille Defender [13]
2022−23 Nuno Mendes  Portugal Paris Saint-Germain Defender [3]

Multiple wins
Multiple wins
Rank Winner Total Seasons
1  Kylian Mbappé (FRA) 3 2016−17, 2017−18, 2018−19
2  Eden Hazard (BEL) 2 2008−09, 2009−10

Awards won by club
Awards won by club
Club Total
Monaco 6
Paris Saint-Germain 5
Lyon 4
Marseille 3
Auxerre 2
Lille 2
Nantes 2
Bastia 1
Bordeaux 1
Metz 1
Montpellier 1
Rennes 1

Awards won by nationality
Awards won by nationality
Nationality Total
 France 24
 Belgium 2
 Italy 1
 Morocco 1
 Portugal 1

Awards won by playing position
Awards won by playing position
Position Total
Forward 16
Midfielder 8
Defender 5
Goalkeeper 0

References
  1. "Palmarès Trophées UNFP - Oscars du football - Meilleur espoir de Ligue 1" [UNFP Trophies - Football Oscars - Best Ligue 1 hopeful]. Sport Palmares (in French). Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  2. "Ligue 1 & 2: France's top two divisions will not resume this season". BBC Sport. 28 April 2020. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  3. Losada, Antonio (29 May 2023). "Nuno Mendes named Young Player of the Year for 2022/23 season". MSN. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  4. "Player of the Year Hazard Chooses Manchester". Ligue 1. 15 May 2012. Archived from the original on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  5. "Ibrahimovic takes Player of the Year Gong". Ligue 1. 20 May 2013. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  6. Bosse-Platière, Raphaël (11 May 2014). "Trophées UNFP : Marco Verratti sacré meilleur espoir" [UNFP Trophies: Marco Verratti crowned best hope] (in French). RTL. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  7. "Alexandre Lacazette beats PSG stars to Ligue 1 Player of the Year award". ESPN FC. 18 May 2015. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  8. "Ibrahimovic named Player of the Year". Ligue 1. 8 May 2016. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  9. "Trophées UNFP: Cavani, Jardim, Mbappé... Le palmarès complet" [UNFP Trophies: Cavani, Jardim, Mbappé... The full prize list] (in French). RTL. 15 May 2017. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  10. "Trophées UNFP: Neymar, Mbappé... Découvrez le palmarès 2018" [UNFP Trophies: Neymar, Mbappé... Discover the 2018 prize list] (in French). RTL. 13 May 2018. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  11. "Mbappé wins awards double". Ligue 1. 19 May 2019. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  12. "Aurélien Tchouameni named Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year". AS Monaco. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  13. Bosher, Luke (16 May 2022). "William Saliba wins Ligue 1 young player of the year". The Athletic. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
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