Messi, Ronaldo, Others to Pick New u-21 Ballon d’Or Winner

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will have to work on the same team when they come to help judge for the U21 Ballon d’Or award.

The two players, who have five Ballon d’Or’s each to their name, are part of an illustrious panel to judge the new award for young players, entitled the Trophee Kopa.

It will be judged annually, much like the main award, by 33 stars of the game ranging from 83-year-old Luis Suarez, the oldest surviving Ballon d’Or winner, to Ronaldo, winner in 2017.

Former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane, winner in 1998, is on the panel alongside fellow household names such as Bobby Charlton, Ronaldinho, Ruud Gullit and Kaka.

The award has been named after Raymond Kopa, the first Frenchman to ever win the Ballon d’Or when he lifted it in 1958.

Judges will convene in the coming months and the first winner of the new award will be revealed on December 3.

World Cup winner and Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe will be the overwhelming favourite to be the first recipieint after a stellar campaign at the age of 19 – he does not turn 20 until 17 days after the awards evening.

As well as announcing the addition of the U21 award, a Ballon d’Or for women’s football is also to be introduced for 2018, and is known as the women’s Golden Ball.

Ahead of the inaugural Ballon d’Or awards, the game’s top players will have a keen eye on London and FIFA’s ‘The Best’ awards which are being presented on Monday night.

Messi was omitted from the three-man shortlist for the main prize as Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Real Madrid’s Luka Modric take on Ronaldo, who is unable to attend, for the trophy.