Lamine Yamal wins third consecutive Kopa Trophy as Barcelona dominate young player award

Lamine Yamal has won the Kopa Trophy for the third consecutive year, with the 19-year-old Barcelona forward confirmed as the 2026 winner of the award recognising the best footballer in the world under the age of 21. The announcement was made on Monday, extending Barcelona’s remarkable hold on the prize.

Yamal’s latest triumph means the Kopa Trophy returns to the Camp Nou for the fifth time in six years. Gavi and Pedri both claimed the award before Yamal’s run began, leaving Barcelona as the only club with multiple winners since the prize was first contested in 2018. Spain, meanwhile, remains the only nation to have produced more than one Kopa Trophy winner.

Pau Cubarsi, Yamal’s La Masia-trained teammate, was widely considered his nearest rival this time around. The young central defender has become a fixture under head coach Hansi Flick and is on course to surpass 150 senior appearances before his 20th birthday in December. Cubarsi won back-to-back La Liga titles, claimed Olympic Gold in 2024, and contributed to Spain’s World Cup victory in 2026 — picking up the tournament’s Best Young Player award in the process. Despite that remarkable summer, Yamal’s standing as the most electrifying teenager in world football proved decisive with voters.

The Kopa Trophy’s history features a number of generational talents. Kylian Mbappé won the inaugural edition in 2018 following France’s World Cup triumph, while Matthijs de Ligt took the 2019 award ahead of Jadon Sancho and João Félix. Jude Bellingham claimed the 2023 prize during his final season at Borussia Dortmund.

Yamal is now the only player to have won the award more than once and one of just four to have appeared on the podium multiple times, underlining a dominance that shows little sign of fading as he enters his twenties.