Lamine Yamal nominated again for Kopa Trophy

Lamine Yamal could become the first player to defend the Kopa award after he was nominated for the second time in a row for the best Under-21 player of last season.

Dean Huijsen and Pau Cubarsí were among the ten nominees for the Kopa award for which announced the names of the male and female candidates were announced as a prelude to the Ballon d'Or. The other finalists are Bouaddi (Lille), Doué (PSG), Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Kenan Yildiz (Juventus), Rodrigo Mora (Porto), João Neves (PSG) and Estevao (Palmeiras/Chelsea).

Barça's new No. 10 rounds out the list of nominees for the award. The 18-year-old winger is vying for the title of best U-21 player. He's also vying for the title of best player in the world, as he's one of the favorites to win the Ballon d'Or, whose nominees will be announced around 3:15 PM. 

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.

Huijsen crowns his excellent final season at Bournemouth, which served as a catalyst for his move to the national team and Real Madrid . The same goes for Cubarsí , who also had a great season with Barça, although the main favourites for everyone are PSG 's Désiré Doué and Lamine Yamal himself , who is also in the running for the Ballon d'Or.

The Kopa Trophy regulations

The Kopa Trophy rewards the best young player under the age of twenty-one on December 31 of the calendar year.

The Kopa Trophy is awarded based on three main criteria observed during the calendar year. In order: 1. Individual and collective performances (record); 2. Class of the player (talent and fair play); 3. Ability to compete over time.

The Kopa Trophy is awarded by a grand jury composed exclusively of Ballon d'Or winners. Each jury selects three players in descending order of merit from a list of ten players previously established by the editorial staff of France Football .

The three players selected by the voter are respectively awarded 5, 3 and 1 points. The trophy is awarded to the player with the highest number of points.

In the event of a tie for the award of the trophy, the players are separated by the number of mentions in first place. If the tie remains, by the number of citations in second place, then by the number of citations in third place.

Any dispute arising from the vote is settled by the editorial director of France Football as organizer and president of the jury.