Overview
- Tuttosport announced Cubarsí as the 2026 Golden Boy on Monday, Nov. 9, recognising the best under-21 player active in a top European league.
- Voters on an international jury of journalists chose Cubarsí from a 25-player shortlist after he anchored Barcelona’s defence in their LaLiga title campaign.
- Cubarsí also started every game for Spain at the 2026 World Cup, won FIFA’s Young Player of the Tournament award, and helped a side that conceded just one goal in the event.
- He is only the second defender to claim the Golden Boy since its 2003 start and the first since Matthijs de Ligt in 2018, highlighting the award’s usual bias toward attackers.
- The win makes Cubarsí the fifth Barcelona graduate to lift the trophy and he will formally collect the award at a Turin gala on December 14.