Ballon d’Or 2023: Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham wins Kopa Trophy in Paris, Erling Haaland wins Gerd Muller Trophy

Jude Bellingham has become the first Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or Kopa Trophy.

The Real Madrid midfielder was recognised as the best-performing player in the world under the age of 21 at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris on Monday, winning the fifth edition of the trophy.

Barcelona trio Gavi, Pedri and Alejandro Balde, Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala and Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund were other nominees, but it was Madrid and England superstar Bellingham who won the award after a sensational year.

Bellingham, who came second to Pedri in the 2021 edition, signed for Madrid in a £88.5m move this summer after he rose to prominence at Borussia Dortmund and for the Three Lions.

Life in the Spanish capital couldn’t have started much better for Bellingham, who has hit the ground running and scored 13 goals in his first 13 appearances for Los Blancos.

The former Birmingham City player has netted in all three of the Champions League games he’s featured in so far this campaign and scored 10 goals in 10 league appearances, which have included three braces.

He scored five goals and provided an assist in his first four league games, including a 95th-minute winner on his home debut at the Bernabeu against Getafe in a 2-1 victory.

After falling behind against Xavi’s side, Bellingham struck a 25-yard screamer to equalise before sealing the win in the 92nd minute, rubber-stamping his phenomenal start with the Spanish giants.

Bellingham has also impressed at international level with England and was on the scoresheet against Iran at the Qatar World Cup in 2022, his first appearance at the tournament.

Last season, Bellingham contributed 14 goals and seven assists for Borussia Dortmund which helped earn the move to Spain, as Dortmund narrowly missed out on the Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich.

Speaking to the audience, he said: “I just wanted to thank everyone who helped me to get to this point: Birmingham City, Dortmund and now Madrid, the national team and most importantly my family: my mum and dad here tonight, my brother back home. Thank you for all the support, it means a lot.”

Discussing his move to Real Madrid, and his choice of Zinedine Zidane’s famous No. 5 shirt, he added: “It’s been really good, I’ve been really welcomed by everyone at the club, my team-mates, the stuff, everyone behind the scenes. I’m always confident in my ability but they really helped me.

“There wasn’t much left so I had to take that, but it’s a lot of pressure and that I wanted to take on and pay homage to one of my footballing idols.”

With Kylian Mbappe and Gavi two of the previous list of winners, and players such as Bernardo Silva in the crowd, he said: “It’s a great list of players, and it’s an honour to be in front of some of the best players in the world and some of the best to have ever played the game.

“To win this trophy means a lot but to me the most important is team honours. Now I’ve got this one, the most important thing is to kick on and help Madrid and win trophies for many years.”

Real Madrid striker Vinicius Jr. was awarded the Socrates prize for his charity and social activism work.

Barcelona were awarded the Women’s Team of the Year after their continued success in La Liga and the Champions League, with Joan Laporta accepting the award.

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez won the Lev Yashin trophy for his exploits at the World Cup where his antics during penalty spots made him known on the wider stage, and helped Argentina to the World Cup.

The Gerd Muller trophy went to Manchester City and Norway striker Erling Haaland after his Treble-winning season.

He said: “I want to thank Manchester City, the whole club, for making me be myself every single day, from the players to the staff, to Pep [Guardioala, his City manager] and to everyone. I want to say a big thank you to them. I also want to thank my family and the people around me for making me who I am today.”

Asked why he was so good at scoring goals, Haaland said:

“It’s my job, that’s why I’m here. It’s what I’m good at. If I had to give my advice I’d say stay hungry, be in the moment, stay sharp. This feeling is an amazing feeling and I had it quite a few times last season, and I want to chase this feeling.”