France Football magazine published details of the players’ voting to decide the Raymond Kopa Award for the best young player in the world 2024, which was won by Barcelona star Lamine Yamal.
Unlike the Golden Ball, the winner of the Kopa Award is determined by the votes of football legends and not by journalists.
The surprise was that Cristiano Ronaldo refused to participate in the voting and abstained from choosing any name, a position repeated with other legends such as Roberto Baggio, Zinedine Zidane, George Weah, Michel Platini, Kevin Keegan and Denis Law.
As for Lionel Messi, he chose Yamal as his first choice to win the award, with Pau Coparsi in second place, and his Argentine compatriot Alejandro Garnacho in third place.
Yamal was chosen over several other legends, including Kaka, Luka Modric, Karim Benzema, Pavel Nedved, Fabio Cannavaro, Luis Figo, Rivaldo and Michael Owen.
Phenomenon Ronaldo Nazario was one of the few who disagreed on Yamal winning the award, as he chose the former Girona player and current Manchester City star, Brazilian Savinho, in first place, followed by Yamal.
