What is the ‘Best Young Player’ trophy awarded at FIFA World Cup?
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FIFA World Cup Best Young Player
The FIFA World Cup is by far the most prestigious tournament in world football and, to a larger extent, in worldwide sports. The FIFA World Cup will be held in Qatar from November 20, 2022, to December 18, 2022. After the tournament, FIFA honors the best players.
At the end of the tournament, FIFA will award the following prizes: Golden Ball, Golden Boot, Golden Glove, Best Young Player, and FIFA Fair Play Trophy. Every FIFA World Cup has witnessed the heroics of a youngster who goes on to become a phenomenon over the following years.
Also Read: Who won the first ‘Best Young Player’ award at FIFA World Cup?
What is the Best Young Player at FIFA World Cup?
The FIFA Best Young Player award has been awarded to the best player aged 21 or younger in every FIFA World Cup since 2006. However, FIFA chose to recognize the outstanding young performers from the 1958 World Cup to the 2002 edition via an online fan survey on its online platform in 2009.
How is the Best Young Player at FIFA World Cup selected?
The Best Young Player Award, like the other World Cup honors, is decided by a board of electors. The FIFA Technical Study Group decides the Best Young Player at every FIFA World Cup. Amongst the primary considerations by the team are the player’s skillset, inventiveness, exemplary showings, positive mindset, and sportsmanship. There aren’t awards for second or third-place placings, as there are for a few other World Cup awards. Only the top young player is recognized.
Who are the previous Best Young players of the FIFA World Cups?
Brazilian icon Pele was titled the award’s first winner selectively in 1958. Pele, who was only 17 at the time, was the youngest person to accomplish the feat to date. Ever since the award’s inception in the FIFA World Cup 2006, only Kylian Mbappé of France has won the World Cup while also receiving the Best Young Player Award. When all of the victors (as decided by the FIFA poll since 1958) are considered, only Pele of Brazil, the initial title holder in 1958, has done so.
Pele is also the award’s youngest recipient, having received it at the age of seventeen. All of the other recipients were at least eighteen years old. Brazilian legend Pele was named the winner of the award in 1958 retrospectively. Since he was just 17 at the time, Pele would have been the youngest to achieve the feat to date. Since the award was first officially handed out in 2006, only Kylian Mbappé of France in 2018 was a World Cup champion in addition to winning the Best Young Player Award.
Overall, when all of the winners (as determined by the FIFA survey since 1958) are taken into account, the only other player to do so was Pele of Brazil, the original winner in 1958. Pele is also the youngest winner of this award at just seventeen years old. Every other winner has been at least eighteen.
Mbappe in 2018 at nineteen and Michael Owen of England in 1998 at eighteen are the only other teenagers to be awarded this distinction. Mbappe, who was nineteen in 2018, and Michael Owen, who was eighteen in 1998, are the only two other teenagers to have received this honor.
Who are the Best Young Player contenders for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar?
1. Jude Bellingham
Jude Bellingham is without a doubt in the discussion as a promising rising star in Qatar after scoring four goals in five Champions League games for Dortmund so far this campaign. Bellingham is pushing hard to get to the top. He is an energetic midfielder who propels the squad forward and might be crucial to the England team that is severely competent at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
2. Jamal Musiala
Constant favorites to win the FIFA World Cup, the four-time champions Germany always has a young star who shines when the stakes are highest. It’s understandable why there is so much buzz surrounding Jamal Musiala given that he has been actively engaged in ten goals in the first ten Bundesliga games for Bayern this season—six goals and four assists. He is enthusiastic about Germany’s prospects in the Middle East at the age of 19 when he has the world at his feet.
3. Pablo Gavi
Gavi is unique because his impression and birth certificate themselves testify to his age of seventeen. Due to his brief appearances with FC Barcelona, Luis Enrique called him up to the Spanish National Team, where he even netted his first goal in a UEFA Nations League match versus the Czech Republic.
Gavi, who has already won praise for his efforts, received the Kopa trophy at the Ballon d’Or gala in October 2022 as the best player under the age of 21 in the world for that year, according to the judges. He has a strong chance of winning the Best Young Player award at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Read More: Who won the last edition’s ‘Best Young Player’ award at FIFA World Cup in 2018?
Read More: Who won the first ‘Golden Glove’ award at FIFA World Cup?
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