How Messi, Kaka, Ronaldo & other Ballon d’Or winning legends voted in Kopa Trophy

Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal scooped the 2024 Kopa Trophy during October’s Ballon d’Or ceremony, beating the likes of Arda Guler, Kobbie Mainoo and Savinho to be crowned the best men’s player under the age of 21.

A stunning 2023/24 La Liga campaign saw the 17-year-old become an indispensable member of the Catalan giants’ squad, leaving many to compare the teenage wonderkid to Lionel Messi.

Success on the international stage saw Yamal crowned a European Champion with Spain in July, while the fleet-footed winger also became the youngest player to score in the tournament at just 16 years and 362 days old.

Yamal’s Kopa Trophy win was therefore widely expected, though the shortlist of players he was competing against was brimming full of talent.

Now, with the event firmly in the rear-view mirror, it’s been revealed how 23 former Ballon d’Or winners – including Messi, Kaka, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Ruud Gullit – voted having been given the responsibility of helping to crown Jude Bellingham’s successor.

Yamal earned first-place votes from 22 of the 23 players, with only Brazilian striking legend Ronaldo – who played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid in his career – veering away from the young Spaniard in favour of a first-place vote for fellow countryman Savinho.

The former Girona star netted 11 goals in 41 appearances during 2023/24 before making a huge summer move to reigning Premier League champions Manchester City.

A number of players with ties to Real Madrid, including Kaka, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema, voted Arda Guler in second, even though the Turkish superstar is yet to cement himself as a first team regular for Carlo Ancelotti.

Pau Cubarsi received support from Messi and fellow Barcelona alumni Hristo Stoichkov, while Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo finished either second or third in 11 of the 23 players votes.

Alejandro Garnacho, Warren Zaire-Emery and Joao Neves also earned top three votes, alongside Bayern Munich’s Mathys Tel and emerging Salzburg striker Karim Konate.

How former Ballon d’or winners voted in the Kopa Trophy