Enzo Fernandez is the holder of the gong after helping Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar four years ago, but who will win Young Player of the Tour...
Enzo Fernandez is the holder of the Young Player of the Tournament gong after helping Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar four years ago, but who will win the award in 2026?
For this summer’s finals, the cut-off for eligibility is players born on or after 1 January, 2005, meaning the field is largely restricted to the world’s best under-21 starlets.
You can see the Golden Ball odds here.
10) Kenan Yildiz (Turkey)
German-born but based in Italy, Yildiz carries the hopes of traditional dark horses Turkey on his young shoulders.
8=) Yan Diomande (Ivory Coast)
Three goals in nine games for his country but plenty will be expected of the 19-year-old in a summer in which he is widely expected to make a £100m move to one of Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich.
8=) Antonio Nusa (Norway)
Eight goals and nine assists in 23 appearances for his country is a very good return for the RB Leipzig winger, who has quite frequently drawn focus away from more celebrated compatriots Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard in starring for Norway.
7) Pau Cubarsi (Spain)
128 appearances for Barcelona as a centre-back at the age of 19 is ridiculous and after Dean Huijsen was snubbed by Luis de la Fuente, Cubarsi looks set to start alongside Aymeric Laporte at the heart of the Spain defence this summer. Still, if Spain are to win the World Cup, we suspect the young player gong will be going to one of his rather more exalted teammates.
6) Endrick (Brazil)
The 19-year-old moved to Lyon on loan in January after struggling for game time at Real Madrid and got eight goals and eight assists to force his way back into the Brazil squad before confirming his place at the World Cup with two assists off the bench against Croatia in March.
5) Arda Guler (Turkey)
He’s become the man for Turkey alongside fellow youngster Kenan Yildiz after they both impressed at Euro 2024, and Guler also enjoyed a very decent season amidst the chaos at Real Madrid.
4) Nico O’Reilly (England)
An unusually high position in the running for a left-back to be, but then O’Reilly isn’t really a left-back. The 21-year-old was frequently Manchester City’s greatest attacking threat this season.
3) Warren Zaire-Emery (France)
The 20-year-old got plenty of game time for PSG this season as cover for Achraf Hakimi at right-back and Fabian Ruiz in midfield, and stands a pretty decent chance of starting for France this summer as none of Aurelien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot, N’Golo Kante or Manu Kone have truly nailed down their spots in midfield ahead of him.
2) Desire Doue (France)
He’s now played a key role in two Champions League wins at Paris Saint-Germain; if this was a straight list of the best young players at the World Cup then second is a perfectly fair position for Doue.
We did wonder whether Doue would get enough football for France but he has started two of their last three friendlies and seems to have made a good case for inclusion in a phenomenal attacking line-up with Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise.
1) Lamine Yamal (Spain)
Obviously.
