Tuttosport praises Cubarsí and the 'legendary Masía'

Pau Cubarsí won the Golden Boy 2026 award with overwhelming support from a 50-person jury across 26 European nations, becoming Barcelona's fifth Golden Boy winner.

Pau Cubarsí has been named Golden Boy 2026, the prestigious award that has served as an under-21 equivalent to the Ballon d'Or since 2003. The 19-year-old Barcelona centre-back and Spain international won with crushing dominance, receiving 475 points out of a possible 500 from a jury of 50 specialist journalists representing 26 European nations.

Forty-three voters placed him first, five second, and two third, leaving Real Madrid's Diomande in second place nearly 250 points behind.

Tuttosport highlighted that Cubarsí is only the second defender to win the award after Matthijs de Ligt in 2018, and praised Barcelona's legendary La Masía academy for producing the talent. Cubarsí becomes the fifth Barcelona player to win the Golden Boy award, following Lionel Messi, Pedri, Gavi, and Lamine Yamal.

Four of those five winners developed through La Masía, with only Pedri arriving from outside, joining from Las Palmas at age 17. No other European club has come close to matching Barcelona's five Golden Boy winners; Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund are second with three each.