England and Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham has won the Kopa Trophy for the best player of last season aged under 21 at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris on Monday.
The 20-year-old has had a great start to his Real career. He scored two goals in Saturday’s 2-1 Clasico win over Barcelona, giving him 13 goals in his first 13 games for the Spanish giants.
But the Kopa Trophy is a reward for how well he played last season. In his last season with Borussia Dortmund, they finished second in the Bundesliga with 14 goals scored in 42 games. He also helped England get to the World Cup quarterfinals in Qatar.
He is the new winner of the trophy named after Raymond Kopa, a star player for Real Madrid and France who also played for Barcelona and Spain.
The award is chosen by former winners of the men’s Ballon d’Or. Kylian Mbappe and Matthijs de Ligt are two other past winners.
Bellingham also came in 18th place for this year’s Ballon d’Or, which is the most prestigious individual award in football.
Photo by EPA/MOHAMMED BADRA