Lamine Yamal becomes youngest winner of Kopa Trophy

Published:28/10/2024 - 21:13h

Updated:28/10/2024 - 21:57h

Lamine Yamal is the rightful winner of the Kopa Trophy for best Under-21 player. The striker joins Pedri and Gavi as the three culés to take home the award

Lamine Yamal adds another 'golden' chapter to his, for now, short and impressive career. The FC Barcelona star received the Kopa Trophy at the Ballon d'Or gala in Paris, an award that rewards the best footballer in the world under 21 years of age. His brutal 'irruption' into the Barça team and the Spanish national team has led him to be recognized with this decoration.

The footballer established himself as the great star of the present and future of the Blaugrana institution last season, where under the orders of Xavi Hernández he was one of the great revelations of the year. Scoring 7 goals and providing 9 assists in 50 games played, Yamal took over the right wing of the Barça attack and, later, the forward line of La Roja.

And the Euro 2024 played in Germany was Lamine's definitive showcase in the eyes of the world. In Luis de la Fuente's team, the Catalan formed a dream duo with Nico Williams and was one of the main players responsible for the title won by the Spanish national team, celebrating a goal and providing four assists in seven games for the Spanish team.

Currently, Lamine Yamal has already played 55 games for the Blaugrana, has scored 13 goals and provided 13 assists, while with Spain he has already 13 international caps, one goal and eight assists.

The third culé to take home the Kopa

Lamine has surpassed rivals such as Pau Cubarsí (FC Barcelona), Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United), Arda Güler (Real Madrid), Karim Konaté (Salzburg), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Joao Neves (Paris Saint-Germain), Savinho (Manchester City), Mathys Tel (Bayern Munich) and Zaïre-Emery (Paris Daint-Germain) in the category.

The Mataró native became the third Barça player to take home the Kopa Trophy in just its sixth edition and the youngest to do so at 17 years and 107 days. Previously, Pedri (2021) and Gavi (2022) were also awarded this prize. Other top-level figures such as Kylian Mbappé (2018), Matthijs de Ligt (2019) and Jude Bellingham (2023) have also been winners of this recognition.