Luis de la Fuente left the Palladium on Monday with the men’s coach-of-the-year trophy. The 18-year-old he picks on the right wing for Spain, Lamine Yamal, left with the Ballon d’Or bronze and the Kopa Trophy for best young player.
By Tuesday the Spain coach had turned his own prize into a message for the Barcelona forward.
“Lamine is going to win many Ballons d’Or, many individual awards. But what matters more is that he will win many more collective titles,” De la Fuente told DAZN after the ceremony.
He told the teenager to “rest easy”, with Spain’s staff fully aware of the player he already is and the one he can still become.
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Kane takes gold, Yamal the bronze
Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane took the men’s Ballon d’Or ahead of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé, with Yamal completing the podium. The England striker scored 73 goals in 2025-26, carried Bayern to a Bundesliga and DFB Cup double, and added six more at the World Cup where England finished third. He is the first English Ballon d’Or winner in 25 years.
Yamal’s night was not empty of silverware. The Barcelona winger retained the Kopa Trophy for the world’s best under-21 player, a third consecutive award in that category according to DAZN. Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón added the Yashin Trophy to Spain’s haul.
A reward for a World Cup winner
De la Fuente’s coaching prize followed a July in which Spain beat Argentina 1-0 to win the 2026 World Cup in North America, with the 65-year-old becoming the oldest head coach to lift the men’s tournament. Spain conceded only one goal across the whole campaign. The Spain job had already brought him Euro 2024 and the 2023 Nations League since he succeeded Luis Enrique in late 2022.
DAZN counted eight honours for Spanish football across the London ceremony, headed by De la Fuente’s coaching trophy, Simón’s goalkeeper award and Yamal’s Kopa.
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