Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal has won the 2026 Kopa Trophy at the Ballon d’Or awards in London.
The forward scooped the prize after a year where he has starred for club and country, winning La Liga with Barcelona and the World Cup with Spain.
Yamal has now claimed the prestigious award – given to the best performing Under-21 player in the world – for the third year in a row.
This time around
he’s beaten off competition from team-mate Pau Cubarsi as well as Yan Diomande, Lennart Karl, El Junior Kroupi, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Johan Manzambi and Warren Zaire-Emery
Barcelona’s No.10 has also been nominated for the main men’s prize and is one of the favourites along with Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe. Ballon d’Or co-host Kate Scott opened up the ceremony by saying it’s the closest race in the Ballon d’Or for years.
Yamal will have to wait to see if he’s scooped the Golden Ball as well but for now can celebrate being the Kopa Trophy winner yet again.
