Juventus ace Alajbegovic nominated for best young player at 2026 Ballon d’Or | OneFootball

Juventus ace Kerim Alajbegovic has been included on the 10-player shortlist for the 2026 Kopa Trophy, the award handed out to the best young player of the year at the Ballon d’Or ceremony.

Juventus star Alajbegovic rivals Lamine Yamal for 2026 Kopa Trophy

The Kopa Trophy is awarded to the best player in the world aged under 21 and has been running since the 2018 edition of the Ballon d’Or.

Alajbegovic is the only Serie A representative included on the 10-player shortlist for the 2026 Kopa Trophy. There are no Italian nominees either.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 11: Kerim Alajbegovic of Juventus shots at goal during the match between Juventus and Palermo at HBF Park on August 11, 2026 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Janelle St Pierre/Getty Images)

The Bosnian talent, who joined Juventus in a €35m deal from Bayer Leverkusen earlier this summer, is considered one of the outsiders for the 2026 award, behind the likes of Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi and Ayyoub Bouaddi.

The full list of nominees is as follows: Kerim Alajbebovic (Juventus/Bosnia and Herzegovina), Ayyoub Bouaddi (Manchester City/Morocco), Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona/Spain), Yan Diomande (Real Madrid/Ivory Coast), Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich/Germany), Eli Junior Kroupi (AFC Bournemouth/France), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain), Johan Manzambi (Aston Villa/Switzerland), Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen/Algeria), Warren Zaire-Emery (PSG/France).

BARCELONA, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 28: Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona poses with the Kopa Trophy in front of fans prior to the LaLiga EA Sports match between FC Barcelona and Real Sociedad at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on September 28, 2025 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Yamal has won the award for the last two years in a row, is the only player to have won the award more than once and is the odds-on favourite to take it home for the third year in succession.

Previous winners include Jude Bellingham in 2023, Gavi in 2022, Pedri in 2021, Matthijs De Ligt in 2019 and Kylian Mbappe in the inaugural year of 2018. All of the last five years have come from LaLiga and Barcelona have produced four of those five winners.