The 2026 World Cup has been all about Lionel Messi cementing his status as the best player in the history of the sport, but there is one award that Messi can’t win: Young Player of the Tournament.
Established in 2006, the award is handed out to the tournament’s most outstanding player aged 21 or younger.
Interestingly, only two of the five winners of this award came from the team that ultimately lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy: Kylian Mbappe took home the award when France won in 2018, while Enzo Fernandez captured it in 2022 for Argentina.
With just two matches remaining, traders at Polymarket are pointing to this being a two-horse race between a pair of Spanish stalwarts.
Lamine Yamal, the 19-year-old talisman from Barcelona, is the decided favorite with a 69-percent chance at Polymarket, while rising star Pau Cubarsi, also 19, is behind him at 30 percent.
Is this race a foregone conclusion? Or does Cubarsi have a chance to upset his Spain and Barcelona teammate?
Young Player of the Tournament odds
| Player | Odds |
|---|---|
| Lamine Yamal | 69 percent |
| Pau Cubarsi | 30 percent |
Young Player of the Tournament pick
Pau Cubarsi (+300, Polymarket)
This is quite an interesting race to handicap because Yamal hasn’t made much of an impact on the scoresheet in this tournament.
The 19-year-old has played well, but he’s only tallied one goal in seven matches, and he doesn’t have an assist yet.
Plenty of ink has been spilled about the positive work Yamal is doing in other facets of the game, but will the voters be able to overlook his meager stats if he’s held off the board by Argentina?
That should open the door for Cubarsi, who has been exquisite throughout this tournament, at the center of a Spanish defense that has conceded just one goal.
Cubarsi has played every minute of every game, and his level has been astonishingly consistent for a teenager going up against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Romelu Lukaku, and Kylian Mbappe.
Yamal is the household name and the superstar, but Cubarsi is more deserving of the award.
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
