World Cup 2026 best young player odds & predictions

Best young player is one of the four individual awards at the FIFA World Cup. It has been handed out since 1958, and at the last two World Cups the prize went to players from the winning side, Kylian Mbappé in 2018 and Enzo Fernández in 2022.

Who will be named the best young player at the 2026 FIFA World Cup?

Can Yamal leave the World Cup with every major individual honour available, and how does FIFA identify young talent at the tournament? We break it down.

Best young player at the 2026 FIFA World Cup: betting odds

Bookmakers have priced up the award based on star power and club pedigree, so it is no surprise that the top five includes representatives of Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Real Madrid.

Best young player at the 2026 World Cup odds

There is not a single out-and-out centre-forward in the top five, and even a defender has made the shortlist, although in the 21st century this award has gone exclusively to midfielders and forwards.

Has Yamal become a victim of the Catalan hype machine?

There is little need to write about Yamal yet again. In the context of individual accolades, Lamine is outstanding, but he remains heavily dependent on the results of both club and country. Given his output, five goals in 19 competitive games for Spain, he is not really in the Golden Boot race, sitting seventh in the market at 25/1

If Spain reach the final and Yamal scores in the decisive match, the Golden Ball is effectively his. If Lamine fades slightly and records something like 3+2 across the tournament, the best young player award becomes the more realistic prize.

And if none of that happens, he will face failure and the inevitable backlash from online supporters. Modern football is ruthless.

Doué and Zaïre-Emery are top talents, but there is no place for them on the pitch

Both Paris Saint-Germain players head to the World Cup as Champions League winners and as leading talents of France’s next generation. The problem is that the 2026 World Cup looks like the last dance for Didier Deschamps’ established core.

Finding room for both of them will be difficult. It is hard to imagine Doué starting ahead of Michael Olise or Ousmane Dembélé. The fragile Dembélé could yet open the door, but for now the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner looks in solid shape.

Zaïre-Emery also looks more like an option from the bench. The midfield is locked down by Aurélien Tchouaméni and Adrien Rabiot, while Deschamps has been actively working with a 4-2-3-1 system in which Warren’s skill set is not especially essential.

That means the two talents are unlikely to scrape together 90 minutes between them across the entire World Cup, even if France reach the final, which is priced at just 14/5 Playing well in the final group game and getting a little game time in the round of 32 or round of 16 is clearly not enough to compete for individual honours at a World Cup.

O'Reilly’s position is no longer fashionable

Nico O'Reilly looked like an interesting option after flourishing under Pep Guardiola. The Spaniard has trusted the 21-year-old wide player in major Champions League and Premier League games, while Nico himself has produced 9+6 in all competitions in the 2025/26 season.

Unfortunately, Thomas Tuchel’s football is very different from Guardiola’s ideas, and those rotations across the full width of the attacking zones will have to stay at the Etihad. In warm-up matches, Thomas himself preferred the two-footed Djed Spence, who looks sharper in the tackle and loses his position less often.

There is another factor. Talented young defenders have not been in FIFA’s favour for decades. The peak came in the mid-70s, when defensive players won the award at the 1974, 1978 and 1982 World Cups.

Explosive Endrick or the genius of Güler: the dark horses

The young Brazilian currently looks like a player who fights his way into the starting XI, but loses consistency as soon as he becomes a regular. Cynically, that is the ideal type of forward for a short tournament. Carlo Ancelotti kept him on ice for half a year, and as soon as Endrick got his chance in the friendly against Egypt, a 2:1 win, he played superbly and scored.

Endrick stats in the 2025/26 season

Another positive quality is his audacity. Think back to the Champions League match when the young Brazilian glanced up at Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior charging forward at full speed, then let fly from an unlikely position and scored. Brazil sometimes lack those simple but effective decisions, and Endrick can help.

In that scenario, Endrick could lower the bar set by his idols and, instead of cosplaying Bobby Charlton, follow Michael Owen’s 1998 World Cup path. England went out in the quarter-finals, but Michael scored in both knockout matches and claimed the best young player award.

Güler, at 21, is already one of Turkey’s leaders. He already has close to 30 competitive international appearances, and the numbers further underline the young midfielder’s quality.

Güler stats for Turkey (2023–2026)

The key will be how far Turkey go. Subjectively, their ceiling is the quarter-finals. Güler was named the best young player in the 2025/26 Champions League despite going out in the semi-finals and posting 2+4 in 14 games. Those are entirely realistic numbers for a World Cup, given Arda’s role in the national team.

FIFA criteria: simpler than the Golden Ball

As with FIFA’s other awards, the criteria are fairly flexible, but unlike the Golden Ball, there are several firm points to work with:

1. Age. The standard age range for winners is 20 or 21, with only three exceptions: Pelé at the 1958 World Cup, aged 17, Owen at the 1998 World Cup, aged 18, and Mbappé at the 2018 World Cup, aged 19.

2. Number of matches. However talented a player may be, a couple of strong group-stage games and one impressive knockout appearance will not be enough to win the prize. Enzo Fernández, Mbappé, Paul Pogba and others were starters throughout the World Cup.

That makes it unclear why Doué and Zaïre-Emery are in the top three of the odds, given that Deschamps is unlikely to use them regularly even for the final ten minutes.

3. Dictate the game or score goals. Most of these awards have gone to midfielders. Enzo Fernández, Pogba, Landon Donovan and Marc Overmars all had an impact in the middle of the pitch without standing out for individual statistics.

In that respect, Yamal and Güler stand out. They are unlikely to rattle in seven or more goals like Mbappé, but they will be key figures in how their national teams build attacks.

Goalscorers have not been ignored either. Mbappé left Russia with an enviable collection of honours as a World Cup winner, top goalscorer and best young player. Besides Kylian, Albert at the 1962 World Cup with four goals and Pelé at the 1958 World Cup with six also come to mind.

Of course, the hype around a player and how far his national team goes through the tournament bracket should not be forgotten. It is difficult to contend for the award after going out in the first knockout round.

All winners of the Best young player award at the FIFA World Cup

The award has been presented since the 1958 World Cup, and the first footballer to receive it was the legendary Pelé.

List of best young players (1958 — 2022)

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