Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsí wins the 2026 Golden Boy award
Barcelona’s Pau Cubarsí, 19, has won the 2026 Golden Boy award for the best under-21 player competing in Europe. Tuttosport announced the result at a ceremony in Sassuolo on Monday, with 30 European journalists voting; Cubarsí won by a landslide, according to AS.
Bottom line — Cubarsí is the second defender to win the award, after Matthijs de Ligt in 2018.
Go deeper 6
-
AS reports that Cubarsí was selected from 25 candidates: 20 chosen through the Golden Boy Benchmark and five wild cards.
-
The prize, created by Massimo Franchi, has been awarded by Italian newspaper Tuttosport since 2003.
-
Cubarsí follows 2025 winner Désiré Doué and 2024 winner Lamine Yamal.
-
Five other La Masía graduates have won: Lionel Messi, Pedri, Gavi, Yamal and Cesc Fàbregas, who was playing for Arsenal at the time.
-
AS says six Spanish players have now won the award; Cubarsí is the latest, after Fàbregas, Isco, Pedri, Gavi and Yamal.
-
Cubarsí missed out on the Kopa Trophy by two points, with Yamal winning it for the third consecutive year, AS reports.