Pau Cubarsí wins the 2026 Golden Boy as Europe's best young player
The Barcelona centre-back beat 24 rivals by a landslide in a vote of 30 European journalists, and the Tuttosport award now crowns him.
Barcelona centre-back Pau Cubarsí (19) has been crowned the 2026 Golden Boy, the award for the best player under 21 in Europe. Tuttosport, which has handed out the prize since 2003, made the result official at a ceremony in Sassuolo on Monday 9 November.
According to Diario AS, one of the 30 European journalists who voted, the Spaniard won by a landslide over 24 other candidates on the Benchmark list and five wild cards added by the organisers.
A few weeks ago he finished two points short of the Kopa Trophy, which went to Lamine Yamal for the third year running. Cubarsí is only the second defender to win the Golden Boy, after Matthijs de Ligt in 2018, and Barcelona now have five La Masia graduates on the roll of honour: Messi, Pedri, Gavi, Lamine and now him.
He succeeds Désiré Doué (2025) and Lamine Yamal (2024) on the list.
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