This year’s Kopa Trophy nominees have been revealed, with a winner set to be crowned at the end of October during the Ballon d’Or award ceremony.
The Kopa Trophy is awarded to the player under 21 who has impressed the most during the 2023/24 season, with former Ballon d’Or winners picking the recipient.
So who are the favourites to win the award?
Here’s our rankings of all ten nominees.
If you’ve played Football Manager 2024, chances are you know how good Karim Konate is.
If you haven’t, here’s some stats to exemplify how good he is:
In 2023/24, Konate scored 22 goals and bagged eight assists to lead Red Bull Salzburg to an Austrian Bundesliga triumph.
Expect to see him starring in a top five league soon enough.
Had Harry Kane not signed for Bayern Munich, Mathys Tel would probably be a bit higher on this list.
Despite playing second fiddle to Kane however, Tel has still managed to make a mark in Bavaria, bagging seven goals and five assists, despite having started just six Bundesliga games last season.
Joao Neves was so good at Benfica in 2023/24, that he earned himself a €70m move to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
And since then, the 19-year-old has continued to impress, becoming a key player almost instantaneously for the Ligue 1 giants.
Chances are, this time last year you hadn’t heard of Pau Cubarsi.
Fast forward 12 months however, and he’s one of the most talked about young defenders in world football.
After being given a surprising debut during the Christmas period by former Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez, Cubarsi has established himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet in Catalonia – despite being about 12 years old. Impressive stuff.
Savinho bagged himself a move to Man City (or was he already there? The City Football Group is a confusing entity) from Troyes after a stunning loan at Girona in La Liga in 2023/24.
The wide forward was the key man behind Girona’s remarkable third-place finish, netting nine goals and ten assists in the league alone.
All you really need to know about Alejandro Garnacho can be found out by watching his overhead kick goal against Everton.
There’s gneuinly not many footballers in the world who can pull something like that off – Garnacho is one of them.
Considering how long it feels like Warren Zaire-Emery has been around, it’s pretty remarkable that he’s still only 18 years old.
The France international is already one of the best players in Ligue 1, and is widely expected to be come one of the best in the world soon enough.
Despite not being first choice at Real Madrid, largely due to injuries in the first half of last season, Arda Guler was given the opportunity to shine at Euro 2024 with Turkey, and he took it with both arms.
From his stunning goal against Georgia, to his game-winning assists against Austria, Guler showed what he’s all about in the summer.
He’s earned more game-time at Madrid, let’s hope he gets it.
Kobbie Mainoo has been the breakout star of 2024 in England.
After becoming a central figure for Manchester United, the youngster then proceeded to force his way into Gareth Southgate’s plans for Euro 2024 and become a starter for England too.
He should be one of the favourites to win the Kopa Trophy.
Every other player on this list is a future star, Lamine Yamal is already a genuine footballing superstar.
From his brilliant performances with Barcelona, to his stunning contributions for Spain on their way to a Euro 2024 triumph, Yamal has developed into a world class player in record time.
He’s also earned himself a nomination for the Ballon d’Or too, all at 17.
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