Former Barcelona forward did not vote for Lamine Yamal in Kopa Trophy nomination

Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal was crowned as the best young player in football last month during the Ballon d’Or Gala as he was awarded the Kopa Trophy on the night.

The result was never in doubt, especially considering the list of accomplishments the young phenom had to his name at just 17 years of age not only for the club but also for his country.

After leading Spain to the Euro 2024 title and spearheading Barcelona’s attack in an underwhelming season, very few had any form of reservations against the protege.

An almost unanimous vote

The Kopa Trophy is decided after voting conducted by previous Ballon d’Or winners, 23 of whom participated in the decision for this year’s victor.

Lamine Yamal won the Kopa Trophy this year. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Of the 23 legends who voted, a staggering 22 placed Yamal in first place on their top three. The only Ballon d’Or winner who did not give Yamal numero uno, as revealed by Mundo Deportivo, was former Barcelona forward Ronaldo Nazario.

The Brazilian legend, who won the Ballon d’Or in 1997 and 2002, placed his countryman Savinho in first place and placed Yamal second in what is a surprising decision. After all, no player came quite close to the Barcelona star’s level last season.

Nevertheless, Yamal won by a landslide margin with others including Lionel Messi, Luis Figo, Hristo Stoitchkov and Michael Owen, amongst others, handing him first place unanimously.

Notably, big names like Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Platini and Zinedine Zidane did not even participate in the vote.

The teenager thus finished on an astounding tally of 113 points with the second-highest being Real Madrid’s Arda Guler in just 26 points. Pau Cubarsi, meanwhile finished fifth with eight points.