Ballon d'Or Kopa Trophy explained and nominees in full: Kylian Mbappe, Trent Alexander-Arnold on shortlist

AFP/Getty Images
Standard Sport9 October 2018

Kylian Mbappe, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Christian Pulisic are among the nominees for the first ever Kopa Trophy - an award for the best player under the age of 21 to be voted for by the previous 33 winners of the Ballon d'Or.

An outstanding debut season saw Liverpool full-back Alexander-Arnold play in the Champions League final against Real Madrid before breaking into the England World Cup squad at the end of the campaign.

World Cup winner and PSG forward Mbappe was also nominated, with USMNT and Borussia Dortmund star Christian Pulisic - who was linked with a big-money move to Liverpool in the summer transfer window - joining him on the 10-man shortlist.

The Ballon d'Or, now separate from Fifa's own player of the year award, is bestowed annually by France Football magazine. Modric won the 2018 Fifa men's award last month, while the women's award went to Brazil forward Marta, another Women's Ballon d'Or award nominee.

Previous winners of the Ballon d'Or who will decide who wins the Kopa Award include Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Michael Owen, Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo.

REUTERS

Ballon d'Or Kopa Award nominees in full

  • Houssem Aouar (France/Lyon, 20)
  • Trent Alexander-Arnold (England/Liverpool, 20)
  • Patrick Cutrone (Italy/AC Milan, 20)
  • Ritsu Doan (Japan, FC Groningen, 20)
  • Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy/AC Milan, 19)
  • Amadou Haidara (Mali/RB Salzburg, 20)
  • Justin Kluivert (Netherlands/AS Roma, 19)
  • Kylian Mbappe (France/PSG, 19)
  • Christian Pulisic (USA/Dortmund, 20)
  • Rodrygo Goes (Brazil/Santos, 17)

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

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