Confirmed: Three Barcelona stars feature in 2026 Golden Boy 25 finalists

The moment the Golden Boy 2026 winner is announced is getting closer. Organised by Tuttosport, the award recognises the best under-21 player in Europe’s leagues.

Last season’s prize went to PSG forward Desire Doue, while FC Barcelona’s 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 Monday’s 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.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝟐𝟓 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄! We present the 𝟐𝟓 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐲, the award celebrating the best U21 players competing in European football leagues https://t.co/9wpeiW48RV

— 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 competition’s 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.

Espart’s inclusion recognises his spectacular start to the season and his emergence within Barcelona’s 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 City’s Ayyoub Bouaddi, PSG’s Warren Zaire-Emery and Real Madrid’s 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.