Kopa Trophy: Maza impressed Messi, Benzema favoured Bouaddi, and four Ballon d'Or winners backed Diomandé

Lamine Yamal won the 2026 Kopa Trophy for a third consecutive year with 96 points, ahead of Pau Cubarsi on 94 and Warren Zaïre-Emery on 20. Lionel Messi ranked Algeria’s Ibrahim Maza third on his ballot, while Lille’s French-Moroccan midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi received votes from Karim Benzema, Pavel Nedved, Andriy Shevchenko and Fabio Cannavaro. Ivory Coast international Yan Diomandé of Leipzig finished fifth with eight points after being ranked second by Lothar Matthäus and Hristo Stoichkov, and third by Rivaldo and Ronaldinho. Bouaddi placed sixth with seven points and Maza ninth with one.