A year after voting in favor of Jude Bellingham (with Pedri and Eduardo Camavinga in 2nd and 3rd positions), Zinédine Zidane did not respond to the call of France Football for the Kopa Trophy election. Unlike a Ballon d’Or decided by a jury of 100 international journalists, it is the still living Ballon d’Ors who are asked to nominate the best player under 21 from the past season. “Zizou”, Ballon d’Or 98, decided not to vote or did not have time to communicate his top 3.
Zidane’s vote, for the young crack of Barça and the Seleccion or for one of the nine others named, would not have changed much. The Blaugranas winger, phenomenal at Euro 2024 (even though he celebrated his 17th birthday before the final!), largely won the vote ahead of Arda Güler and Alejandro Garnacho. All the Ballon d’Or winners who responded to the call (including Lionel Messi) placed Lamine Yamal at the top of their ballot with the exception of Ronaldo “R9”, who preferred Brazilian winger Savinho ahead of the Catalan d Moroccan and Equatoguinean origin.
Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo did not respond
Karim Benzema, Ballon d’Or 2022, had the trio in order, while Jean-Pierre Papin, Ballon d’Or 91, voted for Lamine Yamal then the French international Warren Zaire-Emery and Kobie Mainoo. Like Zidane, Michel Platini, triple Ballon d’Or, did not vote either, just like Denis Law, Kevin Keegan, Roberto Baggio, George Weah (who nevertheless attended the ceremony in Paris and gave the Ballon d’Or Gold 2024 to Rodri) and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Kopa Trophy was launched as part of the Ballon d’Or in 2018 and Lamine Yamal succeeds Kylian Mbappé in 2018, Matthijs de Ligt in 2019, Pedri in 2021, Gavi in 2022 and Jude Bellingham last year.
