Lamine Yamal wins his third straight Kopa Trophy as De la Fuente predicts "many Ballons d'Or" in his future

Mbappe and Kane grabbed the spotlight on the night, but inside the Theatre du Chatelet one name kept coming up again and again: Lamine Yamal. The Barcelona winger couldn't match the two forwards in the race for the 2026 Ballon d'Or, though he did walk away with a trophy that's starting to look like his alone: the Kopa, given to the best young player in the world, which Yamal won for the third year running.

Luis de la Fuente wasn't holding back on the praise. The Spain head coach, who picked up the award for best men's coach that same night after leading Spain to the World Cup title, spoke to Cadena Cope right after the ceremony and made clear what he thinks about the Barcelona academy product's future.

Lamine Yamal is going to win many Ballons d'Or, many individual trophies, but the most important thing is he's going to win many more team trophies. I know that's what he values more.Luis de la Fuente

It's no coincidence De la Fuente speaks with that kind of confidence. Yamal, just 19 years old, was part of the Spanish squad that was crowned world champion, already has a Euro title (2024) to his name, and has picked up three LaLiga titles with Barcelona. A resume that doesn't have many comparables at that age.

The 2025-26 season that just wrapped up helps explain why his name was floating around among the candidates for the top prize. The young Barcelona star put up 25 goals and 20 assists in 57 games, numbers that were key to Barcelona defending its LaLiga title and also claiming the Spanish Super Cup.

De la Fuente, though, asked for patience and a level head for the player.

He needs to stay calm because we know who he is, what he represents. We know the potential he has, the great player he is, and the great person he is.Luis de la Fuente

Laporta: "What Lamine has done is unique"

Praise also came in from the club. Barcelona president Joan Laporta heaped compliments on his young star in comments to Cadena Cope after the ceremony.

What Lamine has done is unique. He's won the best young player award for the third year in a row. We're very proud of him. He deserves everything. Together we'll help him stay even more motivated next year to win this award.Joan Laporta

The "this award" Laporta was referring to is none other than the Ballon d'Or. For now, Mbappe and Kane took the top two spots, but between the coach of the World Cup winning national team and the president of his club, the message to Yamal sounds about the same: there's still plenty of time for that trophy to find its way to him too.