Pau Cubarsi of FC Barcelona
Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images
The moment the Golden Boy 2026 winner is announced is getting closer. Organised by Tuttosport, the award recognises the best under-21 player in Europeโs leagues.
Last seasonโs prize went to PSG forward Desire Doue, while FC Barcelonaโs very own Lamine Yamal won it the year before.
His teammates Gavi and Pedri are among the winners of the prestigious honour, while club legend Lionel Messi also won it back in 2005.
The final 25 revealed
The Banca Ifis headquarters in Venice, Italy, hosted Mondayโs announcement of the 25 finalists, who will compete for the award at a ceremony in Turin later this year.
As expected, Pau Cubarsi is at the top of the rankings. The Barcelona defender was already leading the previous update and now goes into the final stage as the clear favourite.
From this point onwards, 50 journalists from media outlets across Europe will vote for their favourites from the shortlist.
๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐! We present the ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฒ, the award celebrating the best U21 players competing in European football leagues https://t.co/9wpeiW48RV
โ Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyAwards) October 5, 2026
Espart and Bernal make the cut
There is further Barcelona representation in the top 25. Marc Bernal, who was 20th in the competitionโs previous ranking, has made the final list.
Xavi Espart has also made the cut after first entering the top 100 in early September at number 50.
Espartโs inclusion recognises his spectacular start to the season and his emergence within Barcelonaโs first team.
All three are products of a unique and outstanding 2007 generation at Barcelona, which also includes Lamine. However, because the 19-year-old winger has already won the award, he cannot appear among the finalists despite once again being among the leading vote-getters.
Manchester Cityโs Ayyoub Bouaddi, PSGโs Warren Zaire-Emery and Real Madridโs Yan Diomande are also in the running.
As things stand, Cubarsi leads the ranking with Bouaddi and Zaire-Emery completing the top three. Diomande and Luka Vuskovic round out the top five. Bernal is 18th, while Espart enters the final list as a Wild Card.