Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsí wins the 2026 Golden Boy award
Football · Wednesday, November 11, 2026 · 1 source

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

  1. AS reports that Cubarsí was selected from 25 candidates: 20 chosen through the Golden Boy Benchmark and five wild cards.

  2. The prize, created by Massimo Franchi, has been awarded by Italian newspaper Tuttosport since 2003.

  3. Cubarsí follows 2025 winner Désiré Doué and 2024 winner Lamine Yamal.

  4. Five other La Masía graduates have won: Lionel Messi, Pedri, Gavi, Yamal and Cesc Fàbregas, who was playing for Arsenal at the time.

  5. AS says six Spanish players have now won the award; Cubarsí is the latest, after Fàbregas, Isco, Pedri, Gavi and Yamal.

  6. Cubarsí missed out on the Kopa Trophy by two points, with Yamal winning it for the third consecutive year, AS reports.

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dstld. Your daily news summary designed to surface the news that matters from a European perspective. Curated by humans, summarized by AI - always with links back to the original reporting.

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Last generated: Nov 11, 2:12 PM UTC by wreetco

dstld. Your daily news summary designed to surface the news that matters from a European perspective. Curated by humans, summarized by AI - always with links back to the original reporting.

Links · Contact
Popular topics · WorldEuropeGamesAI
Last generated: Nov 11, 2:12 PM UTC by wreetco