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Raymond Kopa

Kopa in 1963
Personal information
Full name	Raymond Kopa
Birth name	Raymond Kopaszewski
Date of birth	(1931-10-13)13 October 1931
Place of birth	Nœux-les-Mines, France
Date of death	3 March 2017(2017-03-03) (aged 85)
Place of death	Angers, France
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1941–1949	Nœux-les-Mines
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1949–1951	Angers	60	(15)
1951–1956	Reims	158	(48)
1956–1959	Real Madrid	79	(24)
1959–1967	Reims	244	(36)
Total		541	(123)
International career
1952–1962	France	45	(18)
Medal record Men's football Representing  France FIFA World Cup 1958
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Raymond Kopa (né Kopaszewski; 13 October 1931 – 3 March 2017) was a French professional footballer, integral to the France national team of the 1950s. At club level he was part of the legendary Real Madrid team of the 1950s, winning three European Cups.

Considered one of the greatest players of all-time, Kopa was a forward who was quick, agile and known for his dribbling, playmaking, and prolific scoring. In 1958, Kopa was awarded the Ballon d'Or. In 1970, he became the first football player to receive the Légion d'honneur. In 2004, Pelé named him one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony.

Early life

Kopa was born to a family of Polish immigrants. His grandparents were originally from Kraków and migrated to Germany, where his parents were born. They then migrated to France after the First World War.

His surname was shortened to Kopa from Kopaszewski while he was at school. He acquired French nationality at his majority in 1952. 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.

Personal life

Kopa married Christiane, the sister of a teammate of his at Angers. After retiring from the game he launched his own sportswear brand, eventually settling in Corsica. Kopa died in Angers on 3 March 2017, aged 85.

Kopa was mentored by Paul Sinibaldi. Sinibaldi was the 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 Angers in Ligue 2 and was transferred two years later to Reims, with whom he won French championships in 1953 and 1955. He won the 1953 Latin Cup with Reims, where they defeated Milan 3–0 in the final, and helped them reach the 1956 European Cup Final, which the team lost to Alfredo Di Stéfano's Real Madrid, 4–3.

Kopa had first attracted attention in Spain when he played for France against Spain in a match in Madrid in March 1955, after which the Spanish sports newspaper Marca nicknaming him "Little Napoleon". Kopa was transferred to Real Madrid for the 1956–57 season, where he was soon joined by Ferenc Puskás. 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 European Cup 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 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 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 in Sweden, scoring three goals as he led France to the semi-finals, where they succumbed to a strong Brazil team. The French team finished third in the tournament.

In March 2004, Kopa was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers. In 2018, France Football's Kopa Trophy, 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.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

List of international goals scored by Raymond Kopa

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	11 November 1952	Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris, France	Northern Ireland		3–1	Friendly
2
3	14 May 1953	Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris, France	Wales		6–1	Friendly
4
5	20 September 1953	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Luxembourg		6–1	1954 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	30 May 1954	Stade Heysel, Brussels, Belgium	Belgium		3–3	Friendly
7	19 June 1954	Charmilles Stadium, Geneva, Switzerland	Mexico		3–2	1954 FIFA World Cup
8	11 November 1954	Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris, France	Belgium		2–2	Friendly
9
10	17 March 1955	Estadio Chamartín, Madrid, Spain	Spain		21	Friendly
11	15 May 1955	Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris, France	England		1–0	Friendly
12	9 October 1955	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel, Switzerland	Switzerland		2–1	Friendly
13	23 October 1955	Dinamo Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union	Soviet Union		2–2	Friendly
14	8 June 1958	Idrottsparken, Norrköping, Sweden	Paraguay		7–3	1958 FIFA World Cup
15	15 June 1958	Eyravallen, Örebro, Sweden	Scotland		2–1	1958 FIFA World Cup
16	26 June 1958	Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	West Germany		6–3	1958 FIFA World Cup
17	1 October 1958	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	Greece		7–1	UEFA Euro 1960
18	27 March 1960	Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria	Austria		4–2	UEFA Euro 1960

Honours

Reims

• Division 1: 1952–53, 1954–55, 1959–60, 1961–62
• Latin Cup: 1953
• Division 2: 1965–66
• European Cup runner-up: 1955–56

Real Madrid

• La Liga: 1956–57, 1957–58
• European Cup: 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59
• Latin Cup: 1957

France

• FIFA World Cup third place: 1958

Individual

• Ballon d'Or: 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
• 3rd French Player of the Century

Orders

• Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur: 1970
• Officier of the Légion d'honneur: 2007

Notes

1. Shared with Duncan Edwards

References

1. ^ "Raymond Kopa". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
2. ^ Gaillard, William (4 February 2011). "Goals, not coal, for Kopa". uefa.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
3. "The 50 Greatest Footballers of All Time". Sports Illustrated. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
4. Carney, Jimmi (31 May 2011). "The 100 Best Footballers of All Time". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
5. Ritchie, Calum (23 November 2023). "25 Greatest Players Of All Time (Ranked)". GiveMeSport. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
6. The Greatest Offensive Midfielders of All-Time. xtratime.org
7. Braun, Didier. "L'Équipe de France de football, c'est l'histoire en raccourci d'un siècle d'immigration" (PDF). L'Équipe. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
8. ^ Boli, C; Grognet, F; Gastaut, Y (2010). Allez la France! football et immigration. Gallimard. ISBN 978-2070129638.
9. Bouchez, Yann (3 March 2017). "Raymond Kopa, figure du football français, est mort". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 3 March 2017.
10. Philippe Rey-Gorez and Alexandre Audabram (2 April 2018). "Paul Sinibaldi, ancienne star du Stade de Reims, est mort" (in French). France Bleu. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
11. "European Cup final results since 1956". Reuters. 23 May 2017. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
12. Hanot, Gabriel. "Palmarès Ballon d'Or – 1958 – Raymond Kopa". www.francefootball.fr. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
13. France vs. West Germany, 1958 FIFA World Cup, archived from the original on 5 September 2015
14. "Pele's list of the greatest". BBC Sport. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
15. "Kylian Mbappé est le vainqueur du premier Trophée Kopa" [Kylian Mbappé is the winner of the first Kopa Trophy]. France Football (in French). 3 December 2018. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
16. Raymond Kopa at National-Football-Teams.com
17. "Raymond Kopa – national football team player".
18. "Stade de Reims 3–0 Milan". ceroacero.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
19. "On this day, Real Madrid lifted club's second Latin Cup". RealMadrid.com. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
20. "Real Madrid 1–0 Benfica". ceroacero.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
21. "France – Footballer of the Year".
22. "Matches of FIFA XI".
23. "ERIC BATTY’S WORLD XI – THE SIXTIES" Retrieved on 26 November 2015
24. World Soccer: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time Retrieved on 28 November 2015
25. "Legends". Golden Foot. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
26. "UEFA President's Award". UEFA.com. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
27. ^ "Décret du 6 avril 2007 portant promotion et nomination" [Decree of 6 April 2007 on promotion and appointment]. Journal Officiel de la République Française (in French). 2007 (84): 6583. 8 April 2007. PREX0710142D. Retrieved 5 June 2019.

External links

• Raymond Kopa at the French Football Federation (in French)
• Interview on uefa.com

France squads

v t e France squad – 1954 FIFA World Cup 1 Remetter 2 Ruminski 3 Abbes 4 Gianessi 5 Grimonpon 6 Kaelbel 7 Marche (c) 8 Bieganski 9 Cuissard 10 Jonquet 11 Louis 12 Marcel 13 Mahjoub 14 Penverne 15 Ben Tifour 16 Dereuddre 17 Glovacki 18 Kopa 19 Leblond 20 Schultz 21 Strappe 22 Vincent Coach: Pibarot v t e France squad – 1958 FIFA World Cup third place 1 Abbes 2 Colonna 3 Remetter 4 Kaelbel 5 Lerond 6 Marche (c) 7 Mouynet 8 Chiarelli 9 Hnatow 10 Jonquet 11 Lafont 12 Marcel 13 Penverne 14 Bellot 15 Bruey 16 Douis 17 Fontaine 18 Kopa 19 Oliver 20 Piantoni 21 Vincent 22 Wisniewski Coach: Batteux

• 1931 births
• 2017 deaths
• Footballers from Pas-de-Calais
• French men's footballers
• Men's 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 men's international footballers
• 1954 FIFA World Cup players
• 1958 FIFA World Cup players
• French expatriate men's footballers
• French expatriate sportspeople in Spain
• Expatriate men's footballers in Spain
• Knights of the Legion of Honour
• Officers of the Legion of Honour
• US Nœux-les-Mines players
• Association football people awarded knighthoods
• Naturalized citizens of France
• French people of Polish descent
• 20th-century French sportsmen