Lamine Yamal was named the world's best under-21 footballer for a third successive year as he retained his Kopa Trophy at the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony.
The Barcelona sensation, who became the first player to win the Kopa Trophy more than once last year, was voted ahead of his club team-mate and compatriot Pau Cubarsi.
Paris Saint-Germain's Warren Zaire-Emery completed the podium ahead of Bayern Munich's Lennart Karl and Real Madrid's £100million Ivorian Yan Diomande.
First awarded in 2018, the Kopa Trophy recognises the best-performing player under the age of 21 from the previous season.
Dominated by Barcelona players, Pedri was the first Blaugrana representative to win the award in 2021 and he was followed up by his midfield accomplice Gavi in 2022. Yamal got his hands on the accolade in 2024 and completed the hat-trick in 2026.
Kylian Mbappé was the first recipient of the award following a sensational World Cup for France in 2018 and Matthijs de Ligt claimed the Kopa Trophy in 2019.
Jude Bellingham finished runner-up to Pedri in 2021 whilst at Borussia Dortmund before going one better in 2023 following an excellent debut season with Real Madrid.
Jamal Musiala featured on the Kopa Trophy podium for three successive years, finishing third in 2021 and 2022 before taking the runner-up spot in 2023.
Kopa Trophy previous winners list
First | Second | Third | |
2018 | Kylian Mbappé | Christian Pulisic | Justin Kluivert |
2019 | Matthijs de Ligt | Jadon Sancho | João Félix |
2021 | Pedri | Jude Bellingham | Jamal Musiala |
2022 | Gavi | Eduardo Camavinga | Jamal Musiala |
2023 | Jude Bellingham | Jamal Musiala | Pedri |
2024 | Lamine Yamal | Arda Güler | Kobbie Mainoo |
2025 | Lamine Yamal | Désiré Doué | João Neves |
2026 | Lamine Yamal | Pau Cubarsi | Warren Zaire-Emery |
