Retains trophy
©TM/IMAGO
Lamine Yamal continues to tumble records as a teenager, and the 18-year-old has just become the first player to retain the Kopa Trophy at the 2025 Ballon d’Or awards. The Barcelona superstar won the 2024 edition and has now beaten Désiré Doué (second), and João Neves (third) to this year’s award. Yamal enjoyed another incredible campaign as he continues to defy his youthfulness. In all competitions, the Spaniard scored 18 goals, whilst providing a further 25 assists. Yamal won the domestic treble with Barca as well as getting to the Champions League semi-final and the Nations League final with Spain.
Yamal is already the world’s most valuable player with a market value of €200 million. That’s more than double the worth of all the other nine nominees (see above) for the Kopa Trophy. Yamal continues to take world football by storm, and at just 18 years of age, already has a CV that most players would be proud of when hanging up their boots lates in their 30s. Yamal has already won the European Championships with his nation Spain, two LaLiga titles, plus an abundance of individual accolades. He can now add a second Kopa Trophy to that list.