Juventus starlet Alajbegovic ranks 7th in Ballon d’Or Young Talent award
PERTH, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 08: Kerim Alajbegovic of Juventus makes a run makes a during the match between Juventus and FC Internazionale at Optus Stadium on August 08, 2026 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by James Worsfold/Getty Images)
Juventus forward Kerim Alajbegovic has finished 7th in the 2026 Kopa Trophy rankings, the award for the world’s best player under the age of 21, with Lamine Yamal taking the prize at tonight’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in London, for the third year in a row.
The Bosnian was the only Serie A representative on the 10-man shortlist. The award, now officially named the ‘Men’s Young Talent of the Year Award‘ is voted for by former Ballon d’Or winners.
Alajbegovic’s rise
The 19-year-old earned his nomination after a breakthrough season on loan at RB Salzburg from Bayer Leverkusen. That persuaded Juventus to sign him in the summer in a deal worth around €35m.
He also starred for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the World Cup, scoring in their 3-1 win over Qatar in Seattle.
Since moving to Turin, Alajbegovic has made 10 appearances in all competitions. He scored his first goal for the club in the Europa League against NEC in September, and has become a regular part of Luciano Spalletti’s squad during an injury crisis.
Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal had won the Kopa Trophy in each of the previous two years and was the favourite to complete a hat-trick, which he did.
Matthijs de Ligt is the only player to have won the award whilst joining Juventus, taking the 2019 prize after his performances for Ajax.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.