Footballing giants queued behind Jude Bellingham voting the Real Madrid youngster for 2023 Kopa Trophy.
Before the award ceremony, we reported earlier that Jude Bellingham has bagged 95% of votes to clinch 2023 Kopa Trophy after his sensational campaign with Real Madrid which climaxed with a brace in his ElClasico debut
Bellingham saw off the challenge from old schoolboy pal Jamaal Musiala of Bayern Munich to clinch the award. Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund was also in contention for the award but was pegged down in the rankings after an underwhelming start to life at Old Trafford.
As per Fabrizio Romano, top footballing giants like Lionel Messi, Ronaldo Nazario, Kaka, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Zidane, Shevchenko, Cannavaro, Luis Figo, and Modric melted their divides and loyalties and voted Jude Bellingham to win the trophy.
What was most striking is that Lionel Messi took Jude Bellingham first as his winner before picking Pedri of Barcelona to come second, and then Jamaal Musiala in that particular order.
Jude Bellingham became the first English player to win the award since it’s inception in 2018 with Mathijs de Ligt, Pedri, and Gavi winning it successively from 2019 to 2022 after Kylian Mbappe won the inaugural edition in 2018.
No young footballer has won the award twice since it’s inception with only players aged 21 and below eligible for the award.
Jude Bellingham has been on a prolific form with Real Madrid since joining the club from Borussia Dortmund. He has scored 13 goals in all competitions with a match winning brace against Barcelona in his ElClasico debut.
Bellingham has been tipped as one of the fast-rising footballers destined to compete for some of the biggest individual awards and honors in football.
