In Barcelona, where the Champions League calendar has brought another European night into view, Pau Cubarsí has allowed himself to consider a place among football’s biggest individual honours. The 19-year-old centre-back is one of 30 nominees for the 2026 Ballon d’Or and believes his club campaign and Spain’s World Cup triumph give him grounds to dream, even as he identifies teammate Lamine Yamal as the leading candidate.
Key takeaways
- Cubarsí has been shortlisted among the 30 players for the 2026 Ballon d’Or, with the ceremony due in two weeks.
- The Barcelona defender played 48 matches in all competitions last season and helped the club win two trophies.
- He was named Young Player of the Tournament after playing a major role in Spain’s World Cup-winning run.
- Cubarsí believes Yamal deserves the award, while also feeling his own season merits consideration.
- Fabio Cannavaro was the last defender to win the Ballon d’Or, doing so after the World Cup.
A Barcelona contender looks towards Paris
Cubarsí’s rise has been built across two demanding stages: a full season at Barcelona and a summer in which Spain lifted the World Cup. His 48 appearances for the Catalan club came as Barcelona collected two titles, while his international performances brought the tournament’s Young Player award.
Speaking before a Champions League match, Cubarsí made clear that he is not ignoring the possibility of finishing high in the vote. “Everyone knows Lamine is the best player in the world,” he said. “Even if he says it himself, everybody knows it. Of course he deserves the Ballon d’Or. I could also be in the running because of the World Cup I had and my season, but I am more relaxed and he has a higher profile.”
The Barcelona pair arrive in the conversation alongside other prominent attacking contenders, including Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane. Cubarsí, however, would represent a rare exception to the award’s usual preference for forwards and creative players.
The small defensive history of the Ballon d’Or
No defender has collected the trophy since Cannavaro, whose World Cup performances carried him to the 2006 prize. Before the Italian, Franz Beckenbauer was the only other defender to win it, taking the award in 1972 and again in 1976.
Lev Yashin remains the sole goalkeeper to have received the Ballon d’Or. Several other defenders have reached the final three without going on to win, among them Paolo Maldini, Virgil van Dijk, Franco Baresi, Ruud Krol and Bobby Moore.
That record underlines the scale of the task facing Cubarsí. Yet his nomination places a Barcelona centre-back in a contest usually shaped by goalscorers, and Spain’s World Cup success has given his candidacy a wider continental weight.
