10 youngsters have been nominated for the Ballon d’or Young Players Award also called the Kopa trophy. The Kopa trophy is presented to the best performing player worldwide under the age of 21 during a joint ceremony with the Ballon d’Or. The award is presented by France Football and is named after late French footballer Raymond Kopa, the winner of the 1958 Ballon d’Or.
The nominations came out earlier today for the award. Unlike the Golden Boy Award, the Kopa Trophy is not limited to players in European leagues, so there was a good combination of players who have done well in the previous season.
Kylian Mbappe was the first winner of the award introduced in 2018. Matthijs de Ligt, Pedri, Gavi and Jude Bellingham have ben the other winners of the award since its inception.
Lamine Yamal who is nominated again this year, is the current holder of the award. His re-nomination shows how much of a young talent the Spanish international is.
Apart from Lamine Yamal, Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly is nominated. The 18 year old just signed a new contract with the club after a great breakout season that saw him play and score for England. PSG’s duo of João Neves and Désiré Doué are also nominated.
They both were instrumental to PSG’s success in the UEFA Champions League as they won the first ever European trophy for the club. Real Madrid’s new player, Dean Huijsen was also nominated. The defender had a standout season with Bournemouth.
The nominations were made known on the verified official X handle of the Ballon D’or. Other nominations are being announced on the same handle as well.
Here is a full list of the nominees:
| Player Nominated | Team playing for |
Ayyoub Bouaddi | Lille |
Pau Cubarsí | Barcelona |
Désiré Doué |
PSG |
|
Estêvão | |
|
Dean Huijsen |
Real Madrid |
|
Myles Lewis-Skelly |
Arsenal |
|
Rodrigo Mora |
Porto |
|
João Neves |
PSG |
|
Lamine Yamal |
Barcelona |
Kenan Yıldız |
Juventus |
If Yamal wins it again, he will be the first player to win it back to back since the inception of the award.
