ATLANTA (Jan. 15, 2026) – U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi has been voted the 2025 U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year, presented by Henkel, after making major strides at the international and club level. The Florida native captained the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team to the quarterfinals of the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup, scoring five goals in the competition to become just the second U.S. player to claim the Golden Boot as the leading scorer of the tournament. After starring at MLS club Inter Miami, Cremaschi currently plays on loan with Serie A side Parma.
Of the five finalists for Young Male Player of the Year, Cremaschi took 38.9 percent of the weighted vote, followed by Cavan Sullivan (34.8 percent) and Mathis Albert (12.3 percent).
“This award means a lot to me,” Cremaschi said. “It’s a representation of how my year went with my clubs and the National Team. This is an amazing accomplishment, but it also speaks to all the people around me that keep me going as a player. I want to thank my family, teammates and everyone that made this award possible. My U-20 teammates gave me the confidence I needed to be the player and leader I needed to be at the World Cup. That is a group of guys I will never forget. I also want to thank Marko Mitrovic – a coach I’ve had at many different levels with the National Team – for his belief and guidance along the way. Finally, I’m so grateful to my family, for their support and love.”
Votes for U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year Awards are collected from National Team coaches, USMNT players who earned a cap in 2025, members of the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors, U.S. Soccer Athletes’ Council, professional league head coaches and sporting directors, select media members and former players and administrators.
The 2025 U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year, presented by Henkel, provides the winner with a $10,000 donation toward a charity of the recipient's choice. Cremaschi chose the Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics (FAST), a premier research organization that is also the largest non-governmental funder of Angelman Syndrome research in the world. Angelman syndrome is a rare genetic disorder affecting the nervous system, affecting one in every 15,000 people, including Benjamin Cremaschi’s cousin.
“We congratulate Benjamin on this well-deserved recognition and celebrate the example he is setting for young athletes,” said Jennifer Schiavone, Henkel Vice President, Corporate Communications, Americas. “Henkel is honored to be the presenting sponsor of this year’s awards and the first to provide charitable donations in the names of these young players.”
“I want to thank Henkel for this generous donation to the Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics,” Cremaschi said. “When they told me there was a donation to the charity of my choice if I won this award, my cousin Martin was obviously the first person I thought of because of the struggles he experiences and the things my uncle and aunt go through. FAST is an organization that does amazing work to drive forward research and development programs for those living with Angelman syndrome and I’m proud to help contribute to their effort.”
The U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team returned to the U-20 World Cup after a quarterfinal finish in 2023, with Cremaschi captaining the U.S. throughout the tournament. The midfielder started every game for the USA in Chile, leading the Americans to the quarterfinals for the fifth consecutive tournament. In the team’s historic 9-1 group stage victory over New Caledonia, Cremaschi proved to be the key player registering a hat trick in addition to notching two assists. The midfielder added to his goal tally with a brace in a 3-0 Round of 16 victory over 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup runners-up Italy. After scoring five goals in the tournament, Cremaschi set a U.S. U-20 MNT record for most goals scored in a single tournament on the way to winning the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Boot.
After making his full senior international debut in September 2023, Cremaschi has continued to integrate himself into the U.S. setup including competing with the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris as the youngest member of the team. Following strong performances with the Olympic team and Inter Miami, Cremaschi earned his first call-up under USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino last January, starting both friendlies against Venezuela and Costa Rica.
At club level, Cremaschi was an integral part of the Inter Miami setup, playing 22 games with 16 starts. During the 2025 season, Cremaschi registered one goal and four assists for a team that would go on to win the 2025 MLS Cup. The midfielder’s strong showings led to European interest, with Italian Serie A club Parma signing Cremaschi on loan during the summer transfer window, where he has appeared in three matches, including a start in the Coppa Italia.
Cremaschi is the 28th player to be voted the U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year, an award a player can only win once. Future two-time World Cup player Josh Wolff was the inaugural winner back in 1998, with the prize also claimed by future World Cup players Ben Olsen (1999), Landon Donovan (2000), DaMarcus Beasley (2001), Bobby Convey (2002), Eddie Johnson (2004), Benny Feilhaber (2005), Jozy Altidore (2006), Michael Bradley (2007), DeAndre Yedlin (2014), Christian Pulisic (2016), Josh Sargent (2017), Sergiño Dest (2019), Gio Reyna (2020) and Yunus Musah (2022).
