Gabriel? Pacho? Gvardiol? Nah, I’ll Have the 19 Year Old

Heading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Spain were one of the favourites to lift the coveted trophy; And as the results would have it, for good reason.

Besides EA Sports predicting them to win after getting the winners of the past 4 editions correct, the squad included teenage sensation Lamine Yamal on the attack, who led them to a Euros at 16, and finished 2nd in the Balon D’or last season. If that was not scary enough, the midfield included Pedri, dubbed by 6X UCL winner Toni Kroos as ‘the best player in his position’, the 2024 Balon D’or winner, Rodri, and Fabian Ruiz, fresh off back-to-back Champions Leagues.

However, with La Roja securing its 2nd star after a long 16-year wait, much of the discussion has shifted to its defense, which conceded only 1 goal across the entire tournament, breaking the record of the 2006 Italy squad, considered to be the best defensive unit in football history; And at the forefront of this Spanish wall was a player, who prior to being selected for the World Cup squad, had less than 12 caps for his country.

That player is none other than 19-year old Pau Cubarsi.

As a player, Cubarsi has always been deemed as ‘good’, nothing extraordinary but someone who can get the job done. More often than not, he has also been subject to waves of criticism, with sports enthusiasts claiming that he is only suited for Hansi Flick’s high-line, and that when it comes to defending one on one, he gets exposed. Even Barcelona fans criticised him for a red card against Atletico Madrid in this year’s Champions League, suggesting that it cost them the game. So, when he got the nod ahead of players like Dean Huijsen and Robin Le Normand, questions arose on whether he was actually deserving of it. Even if he was, he was nowhere near a Gabriel Magalhães or Willian Pacho, considered to be the best defenders in the world. Well, here are the stats:

-Minutes Played- 750 (Joint-most of any outfield players)
-Successful Passes- 671 (2nd Highest in World Cup history)
-Progressive Passes- 33 (Highest among defenders in the 2026 WC)
-Line-breaking Passes- 104 (2nd Highest)
-Total Carries- 172 (3rd Highest)
-Passing Accuracy- 96.2%
-Recoveries- 29
-Clean Sheets- 7 (Highest in WC history)

If this was not enough, in the final itself, Cubarsi won 7 duels (3rd highest) and made the most clearances at 6 of any player on the pitch, while winning 2 aerial duels in the process, restricting Argentina, the team with the most goals in the tournament, to 0 shots within 90 minutes and 2 shots in total, none of them being on target. To solidify his brilliant performance, he also made an exceptional clearance from a Giuliano Simeone pass that would have otherwise forced penalties and snatched the title away from La Roja.

After the final whistle, to the surprise of no one, Cubarsi was awarded the ‘Young Player of the Tournament’, becoming the first defender to receive this prestigious title;

And now suddenly, the player who was thought to be restrictive has become a breakout star, and a candidate for the Balon D’or after putting up performances rivaling, if not bettering, that of the 2006 Balon D’or winner in Fabio Cannavaro.

Whether that will come to fruition is a different discussion, but this World Cup has cemented the fact that the 16-year-old who pocketed Mbappe all those years ago is not just a system player, not just one of the best talents in the world, but one of the best players right now.