World Cup Young Player Award 2026: Lamine Yamal Leads a 17-Name Field

Lamine Yamal is the market's pick for the 2026 World Cup Young Player Award, and the price reflects it. The Barcelona winger sits at 39c on Kalshi, the only platform listing the award, on a board carrying $143.9K in total volume. No other name on the 17-runner field clears 26c. That is a clear favorite, not a coin flip, but 39c still means the market gives the rest of the field a 61% combined chance of taking the trophy.

The award goes to the best player at the tournament aged 21 or under, a FIFA technical-study-group vote announced after the final. For the 2026 edition that caps eligibility at players born on or after January 1, 2005. Yamal, born in 2007, headlines a class young enough that several contenders will be teenagers when the ball kicks off. The market is pricing star power and minutes, and the spread underneath the favorite is where the value sits.

World Cup Young Player Award Odds Today

The full board trades on Kalshi only, so there is no cross-platform spread to arbitrage here. The prices are the implied probabilities straight off a one-sided book.

The prices sum past 100% because each line is a separate Yes/No contract and the book bakes in margin. What matters is the shape: one name at 39c, a tight chase pack of three between 17c and 26c, and a long tail of single-digit lottery tickets. The award is a vote, not a stat line, which means narrative and tournament progression move these numbers as much as raw output. A young player whose team reaches the semifinals will out-poll a more talented one who exits in the group stage.

World Cup Young Player Award Pick: Why Lamine Yamal at 39c Is Fair

Yamal is the rare teenager priced like a proven star, and the resume backs it. He turns 19 days before the tournament and arrives off a Barcelona season in which he was the team's primary creative engine and a fixture in Spain's senior side since Euro 2024. Spain enters as one of the shortest-priced sides to win the whole event, which matters enormously for an award decided late in the tournament. The deeper Spain runs, the more games Yamal plays on the biggest stage, and the more the technical group has to weigh him.

The knock on 39c is that it leaves little margin. A 39% implied probability on a 17-man field is steep when the award hinges on a committee vote that has historically rewarded breakout surprises as much as established names. Yamal is the safe answer, and the market has priced out most of the edge. He is fair here, not a value buy. The case to fade him is the case to back the chase pack at a discount, where one name catching fire in the knockout rounds pays multiples of the favorite.

Desire Doue World Cup Young Player Award Odds: The 26c Second Favorite

Doue is the clearest threat to Yamal at 26c. The PSG forward broke out across the 2024-25 season into the Champions League run, and France carries the depth and the draw to go deep, which is the single biggest input into this award. Born in 2005, he sits right at the upper edge of eligibility, meaning 2026 is his window before he ages out of the category entirely.

The 26c price is the most defensible number on the board after the favorite. France's path and Doue's role on it give him a real platform, and unlike the teenage tail, he already has the senior tournament minutes to convert into votes. If the goal is a single contender to set against Yamal, this is the one with both the price and the team behind it.

Alex Freeman and Ayyoub Bouaddi World Cup Young Player Award Odds

Alex Freeman at 23c is the board's most interesting price. The young American defender plays for a United States side that opens the tournament as a co-host, and host-nation runs have historically inflated young-player vote totals through sheer exposure and home crowds. A defender winning the award is rare, but the host platform is the kind of variable a committee vote rewards, and 23c on a co-host starter is a price built on schedule as much as ceiling.

Ayyoub Bouaddi at 17c rounds out the chase pack. The Lille midfielder is part of the same France youth pipeline as Doue, which both helps and hurts: the platform is elite, but he competes with teammates for the same minutes and the same votes. At 17c he is priced as a credible outsider rather than a true contender, and his number is tied tightly to how France manages its rotation in a long summer.

Yan Diomande and the World Cup Young Player Award Long Shots

Yan Diomande at 15c is the last name with a double-digit price, and below him the board turns into lottery tickets. Nico O'Reilly sits at 11c, Pau Cubarsi at 9c, and Antonio Nusa at 8c, with Endrick and Warren Zaire-Emery both at 5c. Cubarsi is the notable one of that group, a Barcelona defender whose 9c reflects how hard it is for a center-back to win a forward-skewed vote even on a strong side.

These are the contracts to buy if the thesis is that the award produces a surprise, which it often does. A single-digit name on a team that reaches the final pays far more than the favorite ever could. The entire tail from 15c down trades on tournament variance: minutes, matchups, and one or two highlight performances that swing a committee. None of them is the pick, but collectively they are why 39c on Yamal is fair rather than cheap.

When the World Cup Young Player Award Market Resolves

The market resolves on July 31, 2026, tied to the post-final announcement of the FIFA Best Young Player Award for the 2026 World Cup. The award is selected by FIFA's technical study group, not by goals or assists, so resolution waits on the official body's announcement after the July 19 final. The 2026 tournament runs across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with the expanded 48-team format meaning more games and more eligible minutes for the young field than any prior edition.

Each player line resolves Yes only if that player wins the award and No otherwise, so the board behaves as a set of mutually exclusive single-name contracts. There is no consolation for a runner-up. The source of truth is FIFA's official award announcement.

Key World Cup Young Player Award Catalysts

• Spain's tournament run:** Yamal's 39c price is leveraged to how deep Spain advances. A semifinal-or-better run keeps him on the biggest stage when votes are decided.
• France's rotation:** Doue at 26c and Bouaddi at 17c compete for the same minutes. How France manages its young depth directly splits or concentrates that vote.
• Host-nation exposure:** Alex Freeman at 23c rides the United States co-host platform. A USA run deep into the knockouts is the single biggest mover on his number.
• Knockout-round breakouts:** The award has rewarded surprises before. A single-digit name like Cubarsi at 9c or Endrick at 5c reaching the final can flip the vote.
• Eligibility ceiling:** The 2005 birth-year cutoff makes 2026 a last window for the older contenders like Doue, raising the stakes on their tournament before they age out.