Kopa Trophy: what is it, nominees and who has won it before

France Football has been awarding the Kopa Trophy since 2018.

In 2021, Barcelona Pedri won the Kopa Trophy, the award for being voted the world’s best player under the age of 21. The winner of this very special award is picked by the 33 previous winners of the Ballon d’Or that are still alive, including the likes of Messi, Ronaldinho, Beckenbauer and Rivaldo.

France Football has been awarding the Kopa Trophy since 2018, and it’s previous winners have been Kylian Mbappé, Matthijs de Ligt and Pedri. Last year, Pedri had to beat the likes of Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka to win the vote. In 2020, France Football decided against handing out the award in a coronavirus-impacted year.

2021 was a great year for Spain international Pedri, who was the only player to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or, Golden Boy and the Kopa Trophy. The 19-year-old star stood out for his performances with Barcelona and with La Roja in last summer’s 2020 European Championship.

Pedri’s 2021-22 season was disrupted by injury, meaning he misses out on a nomination this year. Borussia Dortmund and England midfielder Jude Bellingham is among the favourites to win the Kopa Trophy after another impressive 12 months in the Bundesliga. Bellingham, still only 19 years old, recently captained Dortmund in the Champions League.

Jude Bellingham - Borussia Dortmund

Karim Adeyemi - Borussia Dortmund

Eduardo Camavinga - Real Madrid

Gavi - Barcelona

Ryan Gravenberch - Bayern Munich

Nuno Mendes - Paris Saint-Germain

Jamal Musiala - Bayern Munich

Josko Gvardiol - RB Leipzig

Bukayo Saka - Arsenal

Florian Wirtz - Bayern Leverkusen

The name Kopa was chosen for legendary France midfielder Raymond Kopa, who won the 1958 Ballon d’Or and was named one of the greatest 125 Living Players at the FIFA Awards Ceremony in 2004.