Kopa Trophy 2025: Lamine Yamal, Desire Doue & Michelle Agyemang lead nominees for Ballon d’Or’s best young player awards in men & women’s game

As the prestigious Golden Ball event continues to grow, more and more prizes are being handed out. Leading performers from across the men’s and women’s game will be recognised when it comes to the most exciting young talent.

Some household names figure on the two shortlists, including wonderkids plying their trade in La Liga, Ligue 1, the Premier League, Champions League and WSL for the likes of Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal - while also starring for their respective countries.

Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona)

Ayyoub Bouaddi (Lille)

Desire Doue (Paris Saint-Germain)

Estevao (Palmeiras/Chelsea)

Dean Huijsen (Bournemouth/Real Madrid)

Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal)

Rodrigo Mora (Porto)

Joao Neves (Paris Saint-Germain)

Kenan Yildiz (Juventus)

Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)

Michelle Agyemang (Brighton/Arsenal)

Linda Caicedo (Real Madrid)

Wieke Kaptein (Chelsea)

Claudia Martinez Ovando (Club Olimpia)

Vicky Lopez (Barcelona)

Barcelona sensation Yamal, who recently turned 18 and inherited Lionel Messi’s old No.10 shirt in Catalunya, helped the Blaugrana to La Liga and Copa del Rey titles in 2024-25.

France international Doue starred for PSG as they captured a historic Champions League crown, with Portuguese midfielder Joao Neves one of his club colleagues at Parc des Princes.

Myles Lewis-Skelly enjoyed a breakthrough year at Arsenal, while also making his senior England debut, and will be joined in the Premier League for the 2025-26 campaign by exciting Brazilian starlet Estevao - who has completed a big-money transfer to Chelsea.

In the women’s game, Agyemang is one of the five nominees after playing a super-sub role for England in their Euro 2025 triumph. The Arsenal-owned forward netted a couple of crucial goals there and was named Young Player of the Tournament.

Yamal is looking to go back-to-back in the Kopa Trophy stakes, becoming the first player to claim that award on two occasions.

Past winners include Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham, Barcelona stars Pedri and Gavi, as well as World Cup-winning ‘Galactico’ Kylian Mbappe.

The glitzy Ballon d’Or ceremony will take place on Monday September 22, 2025 at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. UEFA has once again partnered with Groupe Amaury and L’Equipe as leading performers from across the globe see their remarkable achievements acknowledged.