Lamine Yamal has written his title into the historical past books as soon as once more. The Barcelona starlet was topped Finest Younger Expertise of the Yr on the 2025 Ballon d’Or gala in Paris, turning into the primary participant ever to win the Kopa Trophy in consecutive years. At simply 18, the Spanish winger is already being hailed as one of many brightest footballers of his technology and he’ll have a good time the award together with his household that travelled all the best way with him from Spain.
His rise over the previous two seasons has been nothing in need of extraordinary. Yamal performed an important function in Barcelona’s home treble, lifting La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Supercopa de España. On the worldwide stage, he helped information Spain to glory at Euro 2024, handing over decisive performances that underlined his maturity past his years. He additionally shattered information in membership soccer, most memorably turning into the youngest scorer in El Clásico historical past.
In his acceptance speech as posted by Ballon D’or in a video uploaded on X, Yamal struck a humble tone thanking France soccer earlier than dedicating the trophy to his membership and nationwide teammates.
He mentioned:
Thanks very a lot to France Soccer for the award. It’s an honour to be right here once more,
Watch the video under:
The Kopa Trophy is part of the Ballon D’or Ceremony an occasion at present grazed by the cream dela cream of the Footballing dynasty, named after French nice Raymond Kopa, is awarded yearly to the perfect male participant below 21 and is voted on by former Ballon d’Or winners. Previous recipients embody Kylian Mbappé, Pedri, and Jude Bellingham, however Yamal has now set a brand new benchmark by retaining it.
This yr’s ceremony additionally marked a milestone with the launch of the ladies’s Kopa Trophy, claimed by Barcelona’s Vicky López, making it a double success for the Catalan giants.
With eligibility lasting till 21, Yamal might theoretically win the award once more within the coming years. However for now, he has already achieved what no different younger expertise has carried out earlier than back-to-back Kopa glory.
