Lamine Yamal is our pick to win the Best Young Player award at the 2026 tournament, and the case for him is already overwhelming before a group-stage match has been played. We are covering the award seriously this cycle because the eligible age group, 21 and under, happens to contain some of the most compelling footballers in the world right now. From a Real Madrid playmaker representing Türkiye to a Brazilian forward who carries the weight of an entire footballing culture, this list spans continents and styles. The prize has real stakes beyond the trophy: Mbappé's win in 2018 accelerated his trajectory from prodigy to global face of the sport. One of these six players will be standing where he stood. Here is our definitive ranking.
The full rankings
| Rank | Player | Nation | Prediction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lamine Yamal | Spain | Wins Young Player |
| 2 | Endrick | Brazil | Contends if he starts |
| 3 | Pau Cubarsí | Spain | Defensive contender |
| 4 | Warren Zaïre-Emery | France | France's young engine |
| 5 | Arda Güler | Türkiye | The wildcard |
| 6 | Kobbie Mainoo | England | England's breakout hope |
#6 and #5: The ones who need the stars to align
#6 Kobbie Mainoo, England
Mainoo announced himself at international level with a composed, mature performance at Euro 2024, where he started key matches for England before his 20th birthday. The Manchester United midfielder covers ground efficiently and rarely wastes a pass in tight spaces, qualities that suit the demands of knockout tournament football. His challenge at the 2026 tournament is simple: he needs to be England's first-choice central midfielder from kick-off, because squad rotation at a World Cup can quietly bury a young player's award chances before they begin. Mainoo registered four Premier League starts in the second half of the 2025-26 season, suggesting his club form needs to be decisive over the summer to lock down that England berth.
#5 Arda Güler, Türkiye
Güler scored on his competitive debut for Real Madrid and has since demonstrated a range of passing and dead-ball delivery that most midfielders twice his age cannot replicate. For Türkiye, he is the creative centre of everything, with nine goal contributions across qualifying for the 2026 tournament. The problem is structural: Türkiye are in a competitive group, and if they exit at the group stage, Güler's individual brilliance will have too small a stage to register with voters. A Türkiye run to the knockout rounds changes everything. He is the most technically gifted wildcard in this entire list, which is why he sits at five rather than lower.
#4 and #3: The platform players
#4 Warren Zaïre-Emery, France
Zaïre-Emery became the youngest player to start a UEFA Champions League knockout match for Paris Saint-Germain, a record that illustrates both his maturity and the extraordinary speed of his rise. His role in the France midfield is to press relentlessly, recycle possession cleanly, and make the team function in transition, which is precisely the kind of work that wins football matches but does not always register on award shortlists. France are among the favourites to reach the final of the 2026 tournament, which gives Zaïre-Emery the platform every young player needs. If France go deep and he accumulates assists alongside his defensive work, voters will take notice.
#3 Pau Cubarsí, Spain
Cubarsí has already been the subject of serious discussion at Barcelona about whether he is one of the best centre-backs at the club at any age, not merely among the young ones. He made his senior Spain debut as a teenager and has brought the same reading of the game and composure on the ball to the national team that he shows week to week in La Liga. Defenders almost never win the Best Young Player award, with the 2022 recognition of Joško Gvardiol remaining a notable exception rather than a rule. For Cubarsí to overtake Lamine Yamal, Spain would need to win or reach the final, Yamal would need to be below his best, and Cubarsí himself would need a sequence of defensive performances so dominant they force the conversation. That is not impossible, but it is a lot to ask.
#2: Endrick, Brazil's next great forward
Endrick's trajectory since joining Real Madrid has been one of the most-watched stories in European football, and he carries into the 2026 tournament a record of seven goals in his first 18 appearances for Brazil at senior level. He has the explosiveness and finishing instinct of a centre-forward who already knows where the net is, which is a quality you cannot coach. Brazil's depth up front is both his biggest challenge and, ironically, his biggest opportunity: if he starts matches and scores, the platform the Seleção provides is second to none in terms of global attention. For Endrick to overtake Lamine Yamal, he would almost certainly need to be Brazil's main striker from the first group game, score at least four or five goals across the tournament, and benefit from Spain either exiting early or Yamal having an unusually quiet run. That is possible. It is not our prediction.
#1: Lamine Yamal — the award is his to lose
Lamine Yamal has already done things no teenager in the modern game has done at this level. He scored in the semifinal of Euro 2024 on the eve of his 17th birthday, finished the tournament with four goal contributions across six matches, and returned to Barcelona to register double-figure assists in La Liga before most players his age have made their top-flight debut. He is eligible for the 2026 award with full room to spare, having been born in July 2007, making him 18 at the start of the tournament. The historical context reinforces the case: Pelé won the equivalent honour at 17 in 1958, and Mbappé's 2018 win set the standard for the modern era. Yamal is following a trajectory that puts him in that conversation already.
For the 2026 tournament specifically, the structure of Spain's squad places Yamal at the very centre of their attack, not as a rotation option or a player to be managed for the future but as a key starter who will play in every match Spain survive. Spain enter as one of the strongest teams in the draw. If they reach the quarter-finals or beyond, which is our expectation, Yamal will have had five or more matches to accumulate goals, assists, and the kind of moments that define award winners. We predict Yamal scores four goals and contributes three assists across the tournament, takes the Best Young Player award, and delivers a performance against a top-ten nation that becomes the defining image of his first World Cup.
Our verdict
The 2026 tournament's Best Young Player award is not a competition with six genuinely equal contenders. Yamal is the clear favourite by a margin that reflects his combination of current quality, international experience, and the platform Spain will give him across the knockout rounds. The counter-argument, that young players need their nation to go deep, actually strengthens his case rather than weakening it, because Spain going deep is close to a certainty rather than a hope.
We will be covering each of these six players throughout the tournament, and we are fully prepared to revisit this ranking if Endrick starts every Brazil match and runs riot, or if Güler produces a sequence of performances that carries Türkiye into the last eight. But right now, heading into the group stage, Lamine Yamal wins this award. That is our prediction and we are standing by it.
This article was researched and drafted with AI assistance and reviewed by our editorial team.