The Young Player Award goes to Enzo Fernandez at World Cup 2022 for the 21-year-old's stellar knockout performances
(Image credit: Alex Caparros - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Enzo Fernandez has been named Young Player Award winner at World Cup 2022.
The 21-year-old was playing in Argentina with River Plate before a summer switch to Benfica and has lit up the tournament with his performances from midfield. Having netted against Mexico in the group stage, he featured consistently throughout the knockout stages, elbowing Juventus star Leandro Parades out of the side.
The award was brought in for the 2006 tournament – Fernandez joins the likes of Lukas Podolski, Thomas Muller, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe in being awarded the gong.
Enzo Fernandez of Argentina celebrates after scoring against Mexico (Image credit: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
Fernandez's captain, Lionel Messi, was presented with the Golden Ball for the second time, becoming the first player ever to have lifted the trophy twice. Usually reserved for the biggest star on the losing side of a final, the Flea is the first man since Romario in 1994 to have won the World Cup and the Golden Ball in the same year.
The only man who won an award but didn't get to lift the trophy was a player who really didn't deserve to walk away empty-handed. Kylian Mbappe this year's Golden Boot recipient, having leaped from five goals at the start of play to eight by the end – and becoming France's second Golden Boot winner after Just Fontaine, who netted 13 in 1958's edition. Mbappe's hat-trick was also notable for being the first time since 1966 that anyone had scored three in a final.
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Mark White has been at on FourFourTwo since joining in January 2020, first as a staff writer before becoming content editor in 2023. An encyclopedia of football shirts and boots knowledge – both past and present – Mark has also represented FFT at both FA Cup and League Cup finals (though didn't receive a winners' medal on either occasion) and has written pieces for the mag ranging on subjects from Bobby Robson's season at Barcelona to Robinho's career. He has written cover features for the mag on Mikel Arteta and Martin Odegaard, and is assisted by his cat, Rosie, who has interned for the brand since lockdown.
