Kenan Yıldız short‑listed for 2025 Kopa Trophy

Juventus sensation Kenan Yıldız has been officially nominated for the 2025 Kopa Trophy, recognizing the best male footballer under 21.

He joins an elite group of nine other finalists: Lamine Yamal, Dean Huijsen, Pau Cubarsí, Bouaddi, Desiré Doué, Lewis‑Skelly, Rodrigo Mora, João Neves, and Estevão, with Yamal and Doué currently standing out as the favorites.

Despite the stiff competition, Yıldız’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric. In the 2024‑25 season, he scored seven goals in Serie A and chipped in with a further five goals in other competitions, totaling 12 goals, making him Juventus’s second-highest scorer after Dusan Vlahović.

UEFA Champions League data shows he played 10 matches, logged 668 minutes, scored one goal and built up one assist, with an impressive 86.7% passing accuracy.

Kenan Yildiz of Juventus celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD1 match between…

His overall season tally, according to Fotmob, includes 52appearances, 12 goals, and 7 assists across all competitions, with 34 of those appearances coming in Serie A.

Moreover, Kenan Yıldız scored 7 goals and made 4 assists in 35 league matches, averaging about 0.26 goals per 90 minutes and racking up 11 combined goal contributions.

Beyond numbers, Yıldız’s impact is highlighted by match-winning moments and memorable milestones. He became Juventus’s youngest foreign scorer in Serie A in December 2023, and the youngest-ever Juventus goalscorer in the Champions League when he found the net against PSV.

He also delivered a dramatic brace in the Derby d’Italia against Inter, earning Man of the Match honors.

In the FIFA Club World Cup, Yıldız dazzled with three goals and one assist, including a stunning strike into the top corner—earning praise from coach Igor Tudor as an “outstanding player with huge qualities”.

The most recent Juventus player to win the Kopa Trophy was Matthijs de Ligt in 2019, recognized for his breakthrough campaign with Ajax before joining the club.

Matthijs de Ligt is awarded with the Kopa Trophy during the Ballon D’Or Ceremony at Theatre Du Chatelet on December 02, 2019 in Paris, France.

Before de Ligt, however, Juventus had yet to produce a Kopa nominee, as the award was only established in 2018, with Kylian Mbappé winning the inaugural edition.

In contrast, Juventus had seen recognition in similar youth awards through different avenues. Paul Pogba, for instance, won the Golden Boy award in 2013 while playing for Juventus.