Lamine Yamal may have missed out on winning the Ballon d'Or earlier this week, finishing third behind Kylian Mbappe and winner Harry Kane. He didn't walk away from the ceremony in London empty-handed, though, as he was given the 2026 Kopa Trophy award.

The Barcelona star was named the Kopa Trophy victor, an award given to the best under 21 player in world football, for the third consecutive year.

Yamal beat several other talented youngsters to win the award, including Barcelona teammate Pau Cubarsi, Paris Saint-Germain's Warren Zaire-Emery, Real Madrid's Yan Diomande and Manchester City's Ayyoub Bouaddi.

Speaking afterward, Yamal stated that the award should have been given to Cubarsi. He said: "It is an honour to be here and receive this prize. I would have liked to see my team-mate Cubarsi here because I think this prize should have been for him. He deserved it. He has been playing at an excellent level for some time.

”This is my third year up here for this prize. I would like to thank my club and my national team. Speaking about this one specifically, this one should have been for Cubarsi.”

While the Ballon d'Or is voted for by one representative from every FIFA nation, only former Ballon d'Or winners are eligible to vote in the Kopa Trophy. 27 former winners of football's most prestigious individual accolade voted, and each of their selections have now been revealed.

How 27 Ballon d'Or Winners Voted in the 2026 Kopa Trophy

Yamal may have won the Kopa Trophy, but he only received first place votes from 15 of the 27 Ballon d'Or winners that voted. Among those that thought he deserved to win the award include Ronaldo Nazario, Lionel Messi and Luka Modric.

The 12 others, including Ronaldinho, Fabio Cannavaro and Marco van Basten, gave their vote to Cubarsi.

Perhaps surprisingly, of the 27 individuals that voted, three of them didn't include Yamal in their top three at all: Ruud Guillt, van Basten and Roberto Baggio.

While 26 of the 27 Ballon d'Or winners include Cubarsi in their top three. The only person that didn't was Luka Modric.

Zaire-Emery enjoyed a tremendous 2025/26 season, playing a pivotal role in PSG retaining their Champions League title. He may not have received a single first-place vote, but 12 Ballon d'Or winners still included him in their top three, including George Weah, Michael Owen and Ronaldo.

Manchester City star Ayyoub Bouaddi was backed by five Ballon d'Or winners. Gullit voted him second, while Pavel Nedved, Shevchenko, Cannavaro and Karim Benzema gave him third-place votes.

Messi was the only individual to include Bayer Leverkusen star Ibrahim Maza in their top three. The reason for that is unknown, but Messi may have been impressed by the youngster when Argentina faced Algeria at the 2026 World Cup.

Juventus ace Kerim Alajbegović, Bayern Munich's Lennart Karl, Diomande and Bournemouth star Eli Junior Kroupi also received votes.