The one surprise in the 2026 Kopa Trophy vote came from the man who had already beaten Ibrahim Maza once this year. Of the 27 jurors who cast ballots for best player in the world under 21, only Lionel Messi named the Algerian on his three-man list, slotting him in third behind Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí.
That lone vote was enough to put Ibrahim Maza ninth in the final rankings, which were revealed when Yamal collected the trophy at the London Palladium on 26 October.
Maza, who plays as an attacking midfielder for Bayer Leverkusen, found out mid-match. His side were on their way to a 4-2 Bundesliga defeat at Stuttgart when the news reached him.
“I didn’t want to get distracted”
“I found out about it a short while ago, but I was focusing more on the match,” Maza told Kicker.
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“I tried not to let myself get distracted, but some messages started reaching me. It is a great honour to receive this recognition and to be chosen by a player of Messi’s calibre.”
From Kansas City to a London ballot
The connection between the two players had been forged on 16 June at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Argentina opened their title defence against Algeria in the Group J opener, and Messi did almost all of the damage himself, scoring in the 17th, 45th and 78th minutes before being replaced in the second half. The scoreline was 3-0.
Maza played 82 minutes of that night. He set up Farès Chaïbi for what would have been Algeria’s goal, only for the finish to be ruled out for offside, according to Goal.
Four months later, with the Ballon d’Or jurors asked to list their three picks for the Kopa Trophy, Messi used one of his on the player he had beaten in Kansas City.
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Yamal’s third in a row
The vote itself was never in doubt at the top. Lamine Yamal won the Kopa Trophy for the third consecutive year, capping a season that brought Barcelona another La Liga title. Cubarsí, his Barcelona teammate, finished second.
Maza joined Leverkusen from Hertha BSC in 2025 and has settled quickly in the Bundesliga, with his ninth-place Kopa finish the most visible marker of that progress so far.
The 20-year-old, nicknamed “Mazadona” at home in reference to Diego Maradona, has been linked with Premier League clubs. For now, the only ballot that has publicly carried his name belonged to the player he faced in June.
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