Who will win young talent of the year at Ballon d'Or 2026? Men's and women's nominees in full

The Kopa Trophy, otherwise known as the Men’s Young Talent of the Year, is a prestigious individual prize from France Football handed annually to the best performing footballer in the world under the age of 21.

Lamine Yamal could make history on Monday evening

AFP/Getty

Previous winners of the Kopa Trophy include Kylian Mbappe, Pedri, Gavi and England star Jude Bellingham, with the likes of Pau Cubarsi, Pau Cubarsi, Eli Junior Kroupi and Ayyoub Bouaddi all hoping to dethrone Yamal.

On the women’s side, Vicky Lopez was the inaugural winner of the award last year, and the Barcelona star has put forward a strong case to retain the trophy.

Her competition comes in the shape of team-mate Clara Serrajordi, Chelsea defender Veerle Buurman, Felicia Schroder - who has since moved to Real Madrid from Hacken - and OL Lyonnes midfielder Lily Yohannes.

Men’s young talent of the year nominees

• Kerim Alajbegovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina and RB Salzburg/ Juventus)
• Ayyoub Bouaddi (Morocco and Lille/ Manchester City)
• Pau Cubarsi (Spain and Barcelona)
• Yan Diomande (Ivory Coast and RB Leipzig/ Real Madrid)
• Lennart Karl (Germany and Bayern Munich)
• Eli Junior Kroupi (France and Bournemouth)
• Lamine Yamal (Spain and Barcelona)
• Johan Manzambi (Switzerland and Freiburg/ Aston Villa)
• Ibrahim Maza (Algeria and Bayer Leverkusen)
• Warren Zaire-Emery (France and Paris Saint-Germain)

Inaugural winner: Vicky Lopez

AFP/Getty

Women’s young talent of the year nominees

• Vicky Lopez (Spain and Barcelona)
• Veerle Buurman (Netherlands and Chelsea)
• Felicia Schroder (Sweden and Hacken/ Real Madrid)
• Clara Serrajordi (Spain and Barcelona)
• Lily Yohannes (USA and OL Lyonnes)

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