World Cup 2026 · Stats & data
Who will win the World Cup 2026 Best Young Player award?
FIFA's Technical Study Group names the tournament's best young player after the final. The winner is announced post-tournament; the verified list of past winners runs from 2006 below.
Verified·Winners sourced June 2026
Last verified 2026-06-15 04:10 UTC - auto-refreshed
MercatoWire Data Desk
Best Young Player winners, 2006 to 2022
Enzo Fernández
2022 
Kylian Mbappé
2018 Recent Best Young Player winners; free-licensed images via the squad-face harvest.
| Year | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Enzo Fernandez | Argentina |
| 2018 | Kylian Mbappe | France |
| 2014 | Paul Pogba | France |
| 2010 | Thomas Muller | Germany |
| 2006 | Lukas Podolski | Germany |
Source: per FIFA records via Wikipedia FIFA World Cup Best Young Player Award (fetched 2026-06-08)
When is it awarded
The award is decided by FIFA's Technical Study Group and announced after the final, so there is no live race table. MercatoWire publishes the winner once FIFA confirms it.
Kylian Mbappe, the 2018 winner, has since become one of the tournament's defining forwards; Enzo Fernandez took the 2022 award in Argentina's winning run.