Raymond Kopa

Raymond Kopa (Raymond Kopaszewski; 13 October 1931 – 3 March 2017) was a professional French football player. He has played for France national team and for Real Madrid.

Raymond Kopa

Kopa with France in 1960
Personal information
Full name	Raymond Kopaszewski[1]
Date of birth	(1931-10-13)13 October 1931[1]
Place of birth	Nœux-les-Mines, France[1]
Date of death	3 March 2017(2017-03-03) (aged 85)
Place of death	Angers, France
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[1]
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 Representing  France FIFA World Cup 1958
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

In 1970 he became the first football player to receive the Légion d'honneur, and 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 in Nœux-les-Mines, France.^[2]

Career

After finishing second in the French national youth football trials in 1949, Kopa began his professional career at the age of 17 with SCO 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 Stade de Reims, where they defeated AC 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 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 last against former side Stade de Reims, where Just Fontaine played.

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 given the Ballon d'or by France Football in 1958.^[3]

With the France national football team, Kopa scored 18 goals in 45 games between 1952 and 1962. He played in the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden.

Death

Kopa died in Angers, France on 3 March 2017, aged 85.^[4]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[5]

Club	Season	League			National cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Angers	1949–50	Division 2
	1950–51
	Total
Reims	1951–52	Division 1	33	8
	1952–53		33	13
	1953–54		31	11
	1954–55		31	11
	1955–56		30	5
	Total		158	48
Real Madrid	1956–57	La Liga	22	6	0	0	8	2	30	8
	1957–58		27	8	0	0	7	3	34	11
	1958–59		30	10	0	0	7	1	37	11
	Total		79	24	0	0	22	6	101	30
Reims	1959–60	Division 1	36	14
	1960–61		30	5
	1961–62		30	2
	1962–63		34	1
	1963–64		25	5
	1964–65	Division 2	29	3
	1965–66		27	3
	1966–67	Division 1	33	3
	Total		244	36
Career total			541	123

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[source?]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
France	1952	5	2
	1953	6	3
	1954	6	4
	1955	6	4
	1956	1	0
	1957	0	0
	1958	7	4
	1959	4	0
	1960	3	1
	1961	3	0
	1962	4	0
Total		45	18

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^[6]

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 Q.
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^[source?]
• Latin Cup: 1953^[7]
• Division 2: 1965–66^[source?]
• European Cup runner-up: 1955–56

Real Madrid

• La Liga: 1956–57, 1957–58^[source?]
• European Cup: 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59^[source?]
• Latin Cup: 1957^[8][9]

France

• FIFA World Cup third place: 1958^[source?]

Individual

• Ballon d'or: 1958; runner-up: 1959; third place: 1956, 1957^[a]
• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1958^[source?]
• Etoile d'Or: 1960^[10]
• French Player of the Year: 1960^[source?]
• FIFA XI: 1963^[11]
• World Soccer World XI: 1963^[12]
• World Soccer: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time^[13]
• Golden Foot: 2006, as a football legend^[14]
• UEFA President's Award: 2010^[15][16]
• FIFA 100^[source?]
• 3rd French Player of the Century^[source?]

Orders

• Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur: 1970^[17]
• Officier of the Légion d'honneur: 2007^[17]

Notes

1. Shared with Duncan Edwards