Barcelona centre-back Pau Cubarsi has been named the 2026 winner of the Kopa Trophy, the award recognising the world's best footballer under the age of 21. The announcement, made on Monday, extends Barcelona's extraordinary grip on the prize and marks the fifth time in six years the trophy travels to the Camp Nou.

Barcelona's dominance of the award

Cubarsi follows his club teammates Pedri, Gavi, and Lamine Yamal — who won back-to-back editions — as a Kopa Trophy holder. No club other than Barcelona has produced multiple winners since the award was introduced in 2018, and no country other than Spain has supplied more than one champion.

Yamal remains the only individual player to have won the trophy more than once, while Cubarsi becomes only the fourth player to appear on the podium more than once. The women's equivalent was also claimed by a Barcelona and Spain player: Vicky Lopez took the inaugural women's Kopa Trophy last year.

A teenage pillar for club and country

At 19 years old, Cubarsi has made himself indispensable under Barcelona manager Hansi Flick. He is closing in on 150 senior appearances before his 20th birthday in December, having debuted for the club back in 2023 — little more than three years after joining Barcelona's La Masia academy from Girona in 2018.

His trophy haul is already exceptional. Back-to-back La Liga titles under Flick have been supplemented by an Olympic Gold medal in 2024 and, most significantly, a World Cup winner's medal in 2026. Cubarsi played every single minute of Spain's campaign at the tournament in North America, including the final — a clean sheet against Argentina.

Spain conceded only once across eight World Cup matches, and Cubarsi stood at the heart of that defensive record. Having missed the squad for Euro 2024, the Catalan teenager swiftly became a fixture in Luis de la Fuente's plans and did not relinquish his place throughout the tournament.

Kopa Trophy history

Kylian Mbappe claimed the inaugural Kopa Trophy in 2018, riding the wave of France's World Cup triumph to win by a wide margin. Matthijs de Ligt of Juventus followed in 2019, edging out Jadon Sancho and Joao Felix. Jude Bellingham, then of Borussia Dortmund, took the 2023 edition while representing England — and now Cubarsi adds his name to a list of players who went on to define their generation.