Daijiworld Media Network - New York
New York, Jul 20: Spain defender Pau Cubarsi capped a remarkable FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign by winning the FIFA Young Player Award, while teammate Unai Simon was honoured with the Golden Glove after both played pivotal roles in Spain's title-winning run.
The 19-year-old centre-back started all eight matches for Spain, helping the team secure its second FIFA World Cup title with a 1-0 extra-time victory over Argentina in Sunday's final at New York New Jersey Stadium.
Cubarsi was one of the standout performers throughout the tournament, forming a formidable central defensive partnership with Aymeric Laporte. Spain conceded just one goal during the entire competition—a strike in the 2-1 quarter-final win over Belgium—while keeping an impressive seven clean sheets.
His consistent displays earned him the FIFA Young Player Award, making him the first defender to receive the honour. Cubarsi also became only the fifth teenager in World Cup history to lift the trophy and joined an elite list of previous Young Player Award winners that includes Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Michael Owen, Thomas Muller, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe.
The Spanish defender is also only the fifth defender ever to win the tournament's top young player honour, following Franz Beckenbauer, Wladyslaw Zmuda, Antonio Cabrini and Manuel Amoros.
Spain's dominance at the back was further recognised with goalkeeper Unai Simon receiving the FIFA World Cup 2026 Golden Glove Award for his outstanding performances between the posts.
Simon kept seven clean sheets during the tournament, the highest number ever recorded by a goalkeeper in a single FIFA World Cup, while conceding only once throughout Spain's victorious campaign.
His achievement surpassed the previous record of five clean sheets jointly held by Jan Jongbloed (Netherlands, 1974), Walter Zenga (Italy, 1990), Claudio Taffarel (Brazil, 1994), Fabien Barthez (France, 1998), Oliver Kahn (Germany, 2002), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy, 2006) and Spain legend Iker Casillas (2010).
Including Spain's previous World Cup campaign in Qatar in 2022, Simon had gone 649 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal before Belgium ended that remarkable streak in the quarter-finals.
The 29-year-old also became only the second Spanish goalkeeper to win the Golden Glove, following World Cup-winning captain Iker Casillas, who claimed the award during Spain's triumphant 2010 campaign in South Africa.