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 midfielder Zinedine Zidane of Bordeaux, following the 1993–94 Division 1 season. 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 COVID-19 pandemic.

The award has been given to 28 different players over the course of 31 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 recipients of the award who represent a nation other than France.

Paris Saint-Germain attacking midfielder Désiré Doué is the most recent winner of the award, which was awarded to him for his performances in the 2025–26 Ligue 1 season.

Winners

+ SeasonPlayerNationalityClubPosition1993–94Bordeaux1994–95Lyon1995–96Metz1996–97Monaco1997–98Monaco1998–99Nantes1999–2000Monaco2000–01Lyon2001–02Auxerre2002–03Auxerre2003–04Monaco2004–05Nantes2005–06Marseille2006–07Marseille2007–08Lyon2008–09Lille2009–10 (2)Lille2010–11Paris Saint-Germain2011–12Montpellier2012–13Bastia2013–14Paris Saint-Germain2014–15Lyon2015–16Rennes2016−17Monaco2017−18 (2)Paris Saint-Germain2018−19 (3)Paris Saint-Germain2019−20Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic2020−21Aurélien TchouaméniMonaco2021−22Marseille2022−23Paris Saint-Germain2023−24Paris Saint-Germain2024–25Paris Saint-Germain2025–26 (2)Paris Saint-Germain

Multiple wins + RankPlayerTotalSeasons132016−17, 2017−18, 2018−19222024–25, 2025–262008−09, 2009−10

Awards won by club + ClubTotalParis Saint-Germain8Monaco6Lyon4Marseille3Auxerre2Lille2Nantes2Bastia1Bordeaux1Metz1Montpellier1Rennes1

Awards won by nationality + NationalityTotal272111

Awards won by playing position + PositionTotalForward16Midfielder11Defender5Goalkeeper0

References