Lamine Yamal wins third successive Kopa Trophy as world’s best young player

Lamine Yamal has won the 2026 Kopa Trophy, awarded by France Football to the best young player in the world, for a third consecutive year.

The 19-year-old Spain international finished ahead of Barcelona team-mate Pau Cubarsi, with Warren Zaire-Emery third in the final rankings.

Yamal’s victory extends Barcelona’s dominance in the award, with the club’s players having now won it five times. Pedri, Gavi and Yamal are the only Barcelona players to have received the honour, with Yamal becoming the first to win it three times.

“I am very honoured to be here and to win the award,” Yamal said after receiving the trophy. “I wish my team-mate Pau Cubarsi could have been here with us tonight. I really believe he deserved the award.”

He added: “Cubarsi performed amazingly for a long time. I am happy to win the award for the third year in a row, and I want to thank the club, the national team and everyone who helped me to be here.”

Yamal concluded: “Now I have to continue working hard and making the effort to try to win more team trophies and individual awards such as this one.”

The prize was presented to Yamal by Andriy Shevchenko, the Ukraine and AC Milan great.

Yamal played 57 matches last season, scoring 25 goals and providing 20 assists. During that campaign, he won the 2026 World Cup, La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup.

The Kopa Trophy has been awarded by France Football since 2018. Its previous winners are Kylian Mbappe, Matthijs de Ligt, Pedri, Gavi, Jude Bellingham and Yamal.

The final standings were:

1. Lamine Yamal 2. Pau Cubarsi 3. Warren Zaire-Emery 4. Karl Lennart 5. Yan Diomande 6. Ayoub Bouaddi 7. Karim Alabijovic 8. Eli Junior Kroupi 9. Ibrahim Maza 10. Johan Manzambi