Raymond Kopa (né Kopaszewski; 13 October 1931 – 3 March 2017) was a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, integral to the

France national team France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area e ...

of the 1950s. At club level he was part of the legendary

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

team of the 1950s, winning three

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

s. Often considered one of the best players of his generation, Kopa was an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who was quick, agile and known for his dribbling, playmaking, and prolific scoring. In 1958, Kopa was awarded the

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine '' France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (fo ...

. In 1970, he became the first football player to receive the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

, and in 2004,

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FI ...

named him one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony.

Early and personal life

Kopa was born to a family of Polish immigrants. His grandparents were originally from

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 159 ...

and migrated to Germany, where his parents were born. They then migrated to France after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. His surname was shortened to Kopa from Kopaszewski while he was at school. At the age of 14, he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, father and brother by working in the coal mines of Nœux-les-Mines. During this time Kopa lost a finger in a mining accident. Kopa married Christiane, the sister of a teammate of his at

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

. After retiring from the game he launched his own sportswear brand, eventually settling in Corsica. Kopa died in

on 3 March 2017, aged 85. Kopa was mentored by Paul Sinibaldi. Sinibaldi was godfather to Kopa's son.

Career

After finishing second in the French national youth football trials in 1949, Kopa began his professional career at age 17 with

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligu ...

and was transferred two years later to

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded ...

, with whom he won French championships in 1953 and 1955. He won the 1953

Latin Cup The Latin Cup was an international football tournament for club sides from the Southwest European nations of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. In 1949 the football federations came together and requested FIFA to launch the competition. Eur ...

with Reims, where they defeated

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

3–0 in the final, and helped them reach the

1956 European Cup Final The 1956 European Cup Final was the inaugural final in the pan-European football competition, the European Cup, now known as the UEFA Champions League. It was contested by Real Madrid of Spain and Reims from France, and played at the Parc des Princ ...

, which the team lost to

Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: * Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda ...

, 4–3. Kopa had first attracted attention in Spain when he played for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

in a match in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

in March 1955, after which the Spanish sports newspaper ''

Marca Marca may refer to: Places * Marca, Sălaj, a commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Marca, a tributary of the Barcău in Sălaj County, Romania * an alternative name for Merca, Somalia * Marca District, in the province Recuay, Peru * Marçà, a vil ...

'' nicknaming him "Little Napoleon". Kopa was transferred to Real Madrid for the 1956–57 season, where he was soon joined by

Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás (, ; born Ferenc Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian football player and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forwar ...

. Despite playing as an inside right at Real Madrid rather than as the no. 10, his usual position, Kopa helped the club to three successive European cup victories and the Spanish league title in 1957 and 1958. Kopa was also the first French player to win the

when Madrid defeated Fiorentina 2–0 in the 1957 final. He would go on to be European champion again in 1958 and 1959, the latter against former side Reims, where

Just Fontaine Just Louis Fontaine (born 18 August 1933) is a French former professional footballer. A prolific forward, he is best known for scoring the most goals in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, with thirteen in six matches in 1958. In 2004, ...

was playing. In the 1959–60 season, Kopa returned to France to finish his career with Reims, where he won further ''Championnats'' in 1960 and 1962. In total, he scored 75 goals in 346 matches in France's top flight, and was awarded the ''

Ballon d'or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine '' France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (fo ...

'' by '' France Football'' in 1958. With the France national team, Kopa scored 18 goals in 45 matches between 1952 and 1962. He played in the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil ...

in Sweden, where he performed outstandingly and was one of the players of the tournament, scoring three goals as he led France to the semi-finals, where they succumbed to a strong

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

team. The French team finished third in the tournament. In March 2004, Kopa was named by

as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers. In 2018, France Football's

Kopa Trophy The Kopa Trophy is an association football award presented to the best performing player under the age of 21. It is organised by ''France Football.'' The award is named after former French footballer Raymond Kopa and the winner is selected by fo ...

, awarded to the best young football player in the calendar year was named in Raymond's honor. The first recipient was fellow Frenchman

Kylian Mbappé Kylian Mbappé Lottin (born 20 December 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is renowned for his drib ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kopa goal.''

Honours

Reims * Division 1: 1952–53, 1954–55, 1959–60, 1961–62 *

: 1953 * Division 2: 1965–66 Real Madrid *

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

: 1956–57, 1957–58 *

: 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59 *Latin Cup:

1957 1957 (Roman numerals, MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday, common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, t ...

France *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...

third place: 1958 Individual *

: 1958; runner-up: 1959; third place: 1956, 1957 * FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1958 *Etoile d'Or: 1960 * French Player of the Year: 1960 * FIFA XI: 1963 *'' World Soccer'' World XI: 1963 * World Soccer: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time * Golden Foot: 2006, as a football legend * UEFA President's Award: 2010 *

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list of Brazilian footballer Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, England, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the fo ...

* 3rd French Player of the Century Orders *

Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

: 1970 *

Officier of the Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

: 2007

References

External links

* * * *
FootballDatabase profile and stats

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kopa, Raymond 1931 births 2017 deaths French people of Polish descent French footballers Association football midfielders Angers SCO players Stade de Reims players Real Madrid CF players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players La Liga players UEFA Champions League winning players Ballon d'Or winners FIFA 100 France international footballers 1954 FIFA World Cup players 1958 FIFA World Cup players French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Sportspeople from Pas-de-Calais US Nœux-les-Mines players Footballers from Hauts-de-France