Lamine Yamal Wins a Third Straight Kopa Trophy in 2026

Three in a row for Yamal

Lamine Yamal has won the 2026 Kopa Trophy, awarded to the world's best men's player aged 21 or under, for the third consecutive year. The Barcelona and Spain forward previously won the prize in 2024 and 2025, an unprecedented hat-trick for the young-player award presented by 2004 Ballon d'Or winner Andriy Shevchenko.

Gracious in victory

Collecting the award, Yamal suggested the honour could have gone to a team-mate, saying he believed Barcelona and Spain defender Pau Cubarsi deserved it. Cubarsi finished second in the Kopa ranking, with Paris Saint-Germain's Warren Zaire-Emery third.

Third in the senior race

Yamal's night did not end with the Kopa Trophy: he also finished third in the senior men's Ballon d'Or, behind winner Harry Kane and runner-up Kylian Mbappe. For a player still in his teens for much of the voting period, placing on the senior podium underlines his trajectory toward the sport's very top.

A Barcelona cornerstone

Yamal has been central to Barcelona's resurgence, his dribbling, creativity and goals making him one of the most talked-about players in world football. His consistency across club and country has already drawn comparisons to the game's greats, and the Kopa Trophy run cements his status as the standard-bearer for his generation.

Part of a Barcelona surge

The teenager's award was one of many for Barcelona and Spain on the night. Alexia Putellas won the women's Ballon d'Or, Vicky Lopez took the women's Kopa Trophy, and Barcelona were named women's club of the year, while Spanish winners dominated the goalkeeper and coaching categories.

About the Kopa Trophy

The Kopa Trophy, named after 1958 Ballon d'Or winner Raymond Kopa, has been awarded to the best men's under-21 player since 2018, when Kylian Mbappe was the inaugural recipient. Past winners include Matthijs de Ligt, Pedri, Gavi and Jude Bellingham, a list that reads as a who's-who of emerging talent, making Yamal's three-in-a-row especially notable.

The bottom line

A third straight Kopa Trophy and a senior Ballon d'Or podium finish make clear that Lamine Yamal is no longer just a prodigy but a genuine contender for the sport's biggest individual prize. On this evidence, his first senior Ballon d'Or may be a question of when, not if.

Related on Skillo

See also: Ballon d'Or 2026 live: Harry Kane wins in London, Ballon d'Or 2026: the full winners list.

Sources

• Ballon d'Or official winners (ballondor.com)
• 2026 Ballon d'Or - Wikipedia (full rankings)
• Ballon d'Or 2026 live updates: Kane, Putellas headline winners (NBC Sports)

Published date reflects the original event date (2026-10-26). This article is original Skillo editorial written from the sources above; facts were verified in September 2026.