Beyond the Ballon d’Or: Lamine Yamal nominated for prestigious award Messi and Ronaldo never claimed

On Thursday, France Football magazine announced the nominees for the 2025 Ballon d’Or, one of the most prestigious awards in world soccer. Lamine Yamal is, unsurprisingly, among the 30 finalists, but he was also selected as a nominee for another highly regarded honor—one that neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi has won.

Yamal is one of the 10 finalists for the 2025 Kopa Trophy, an award presented by France Football to the best player under the age of 21 over the past season. Interestingly, Lamine already won the trophy last year, and considering he’s only 18, there’s every chance he could take it home multiple times.

Joining Yamal on the list of finalists is another Barcelona player, defender Pau Cubarsi. The third Spanish nominee is Dean Huijsen, who recently joined Real Madrid after a standout stint with Bournemouth in the Premier League.

The list also includes two French stars, Ayyoub Bouaddi (Lille) and Desire Doue (Paris Saint-Germain); two Portuguese players, Rodrigo Mora (Porto) and Joao Neves (PSG); one Brazilian, Estevao (who joined Chelsea this summer from Palmeiras); one Englishman, Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal); and one Turkish player, Kenan Yildiz (Juventus).

Why haven’t Messi and Ronaldo ever won the Kopa Trophy?

Just as Lamine Yamal is currently making waves at the highest level of world soccer despite his young age, both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi did the same during the 2000s. However, neither of them had the chance to compete for the Kopa Trophy, as the award was only established by France Football in 2018.

The trophy is named after Raymond Kopa, a forward who starred for Angers, Stade de Reims, and Real Madrid, and who became the first French player to win the Ballon d’Or in 1958. In its inaugural year, the Kopa Trophy was awarded to Kylian Mbappe, then a rising star at PSG. Matthijs de Ligt, Pedri, Gavi, Jude Bellingham, and Lamine Yamal round out the list of winners.

A similarly prestigious award for young talent is the Golden Boy, presented annually by the Italian magazine Tuttosport. Created in 2003, this trophy was available to Messi and Ronaldo. In fact, the Argentine forward won it in 2005 and placed second in 2006 and 2007. Cristiano, on the other hand, never managed to win it—he finished third in 2003 and second in 2004.

When will the Ballon d’Or and Kopa Trophy be awarded?

The Ballon d’Or awards ceremony, which also includes the presentation of the Kopa Trophy as well as honors for best goalkeeper, best coach, and best team, will take place at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on September 22.