WORLD CUP
Spain Men’s National Soccer Team
Spain’s Pau Cubarsí takes home FIFA Young Player Award after World Cup win
Meghan L. HallUSA TODAY
Updated July 19, 2026, 7:28 p.m. ET
Spain took home some serious hardware on Sunday after beating Argentina 1-0.
La Roja won a World Cup title, its second in team history, $50 million, and championship rings. It also cleaned up in the individual awards, including the FIFA Young Player Award.
The award is relatively innovative. It was first awarded in 2006 when Germany’s Lukas Podolski won the prize. Podolski was followed by some of the best players in his generation, Thomas Müller, Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe and Enzo Fernández.
To be eligible for this year’s award, a player must have been less than 21 years old at the start of 2026. That made Spain’s Pau Cubarsí (19 years old) the perfect candidate to win. Cubarsi appeared in 8 matches for Spain.
There have been five teenagers to win a World Cup. Two of them (Cubarsí and Lamine Yamal) are on Spain’s roster.
Who is Pau Cubarsí?
Cubarsí, 19, plays defender for the Spanish national team and FC Barcelona.
At 16 years old, he made his Barcelona first-team debut. He then gained international attention when he won Player of the Match in his UEFA Champions League debut in 2024. Cubarsí has also won an Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
