Ballon d'Or 2025: Which panel selects the Kopa Trophy winner? | OneFootball

The jury for the Kopa Trophy

Ronaldo et Messi/@Goal

Since 2018, the Kopa Trophy has recognized the world’s best under-21 talent each year. But here’s something you might not know: the panel that decides the winner is not the same as the one that votes for the Ballon d'Or.

In fact, the jury responsible for choosing the Kopa Trophy laureate is made up exclusively of living Ballon d'Or winners.

Here is the jury for the 2025 Kopa Trophy:

• Ronaldo (Brazil)

• Rivaldo (Brazil)

• Ronaldinho (Brazil)

• Kaká (Brazil)

• Michel Platini (France)

• Jean-Pierre Papin (France)

• Zinédine Zidane (France)

• Karim Benzema (France)

• Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Germany)

• Lothar Matthäus (Germany)

• Matthias Sammer (Germany)

• Roberto Baggio (Italy)

• Gianni Rivera (Italy)

• Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)

• Oleg Blokhin (Ukraine)

• Igor Belanov (Ukraine)

• Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)

• Kevin Keegan (England)

• Michael Owen (England)

• Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)

• Marco van Basten (Netherlands)

• Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

• Luís Figo (Portugal)

• Luka Modrić (Croatia)

• Lionel Messi (Argentina)

• Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)

• Allan Simonsen (Denmark)

• George Weah (Liberia)

• Pavel Nedvěd (Czechia)

Each jury member selects their top three favorites from the 10 nominees in descending order. The first choice receives 5 points, the second 3 points, and the third 1 point. The winner is the player who accumulates the most points.

Lamine Yamal, Désiré Doué, João Neves, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Pau Cubarsí, Estevão, Dean Huijsen, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Rodrigo Mora, and Kenan Yildiz are the nominees for the 2025 Kopa Trophy.