Kopa Trophy 2024: France Football Reveals Nominees for World's Best Young Soccer Star

France Football is preparing to reveal its lineup of nominees for the prestigious Kopa Trophy for the year 2024.

The prize, which is awarded as part of the annual Ballon d'Or ceremony, was established in 2018 when Kylian Mbappe prevailed.

Jude Bellingham won the Kopa Trophy in 2023 and is now one of the front runners for the big prize. 

Lamine Yamal is among the favourites this time around after his outstanding performances for Spain at Euro 2024.

If the teenage winger is successful, he would be Barcelona's third winner in the past four years following Pedri and Gavi's respective successes in 2021 and 2022.

MORE: La Liga records broken by Spain sensation Lamine Yamal

The Kopa Trophy is an annual prize given to the best soccer player in the world under the age of 21, as determined by the Ballon d'Or jury voting system.

The trophy can be won by a player outside the Europe, which makes it different to the Golden Boy prize, which can only be one by a player in UEFA's league system.

The award is named after Raymond Kopa, the former Real Madrid and France star who won the Ballon d'Or in 1958.

The nominees for the Kopa Trophy 2024 will be announced on a L'Equipe live stream at 18:20 CET (12:20 ET/17:20 BST) on Wednesday, September 4 as part of France Football's wider Ballon d'Or announcement.

MORE: Jude Bellingham stats 2023-24: Goals, assists, trophies of top Ballon d'Or contender

Kylian Mbappe won the inaugural Kopa Trophy in 2018 after winning the World Cup with France. The 2023 prize was claimed by Jude Bellingham.

The 2024 Ballon d'Or gala is due to be held on Monday, October 28, 2024 at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France.

The ceremony is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET).