Pau Cubarsí i Paredes (born 22 January 2007) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. Known for his distribution, defensive positioning and game intelligence, he is considered to be one of the best young players in the world.[3][4][5]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Pau Cubarsí i Paredes[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 22 January 2007 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bescanó, Spain | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Barcelona | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2018 | Girona | ||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2024 | Barcelona | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Barcelona B | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Barcelona | 31 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2021-2022 | Spain U15 | 6 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Spain U16 | 4 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Spain U17 | 12 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Spain | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Spain U23 | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Spain U21 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:37, 3 November 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:55, 15 October 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Early and personal life
editPau Cubarsí i Paredes is from Bescanó, Girona, Catalonia.[6]
Cubarsí speaks Catalan. While playing for Spain at the Olympic Games in 2024, he said that he rarely takes part in interviews because he is not fluent speaking Spanish, having only ever lived in Catalonia and used his native language.[7]
Club career
editCubarsí began his career with Girona, before the move to Barcelona in 2018.[6] Having progressed through the academy, he became the third-youngest Barcelona player to debut in the UEFA Youth League, behind Lamine Yamal and Ilaix Moriba, when he started in an eventual 1–1 draw with Czech side Viktoria Plzeň.[6]
In April 2023, he trained with the first team for the first time, having been called up by manager Xavi.[8] He signed his first professional contract with the club three months later, on 8 July.[9] He was included in Barcelona's pre-season squad ahead of the 2023–24 season.[10]
On 18 January 2024, Cubarsí made his first team debut against Unionistas de Salamanca in the Copa del Rey, being subbed on in the 46th minute.[11] His first start came in the next match against Real Betis in La Liga, a day before his 17th birthday.[12] On 12 March, he was named Player of the Match on his UEFA Champions League debut in a 3–1 victory over Napoli in the round of 16 second leg, in which he became the youngest player to debut at 17 years and 50 days in the competition's knockout phase, breaking former Bayern Munich defender David Alaba's previous record of 17 years and 258 days.[3][5]
On 10 April, Cubarsí has become the youngest defender to start in the quarter finals of the Champions League aged only 17 years and 79 days breaking the previous record held by CSKA Moscow's Georgi Shchennikov.[13]
On 9 May 2024, Barcelona announced that they had reached an agreement with Cubarsí for an extension until 30 June 2027.[14][15]
International career
editCubarsí has represented Spain from under-15 to under-17 level.[16] In March 2024, he was called up to the senior Spain team for the first time by coach Luis de la Fuente, debuting in a 1–0 friendly loss to Colombia.[17] He came on as a substitute in the 83rd minute replacing Aymeric Laporte, in which he became the youngest defender to ever play for Spain at the age of 17 years one month and 28 days, breaking the record previously held by Sergio Ramos in 2005.[18]
On 27 May 2024, Cubarsí was named in the 29-man preliminary squad for the UEFA Euro 2024.[19] However, on 7 June, he was excluded from the final squad prior to the tournament.[20]
Career statistics
editClub
edit- As of match played 3 November 2024
| Club | Season | League | Copa del Rey | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Barcelona Atlètic | 2023–24 | Primera Federación | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| Barcelona | 2023–24 | La Liga | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| 2024–25 | La Liga | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
| Total | 31 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 40 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 0 | ||
- ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Champions League
International
edit- As of match played 29 October 2024[21]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain U15 | 2021 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 8 | 1 | |
| Spain U16 | 2022 | 4 | 1 |
| Spain U17 | 2023 | 12 | 0 |
| Spain U21 | 2024 | 2 | 0 |
| Spain U23 | 2024 | 5 | 0 |
| Spain | 2024 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | 27 | 1 | |
Honours
editSpain U23
- Summer Olympics gold medal: 2024[22]
Individual
References
edit- ^ UEFA (28 May 2023). "European Under-17 Championship 2023 Booking List before Semi-finals" (PDF). p. 2.
- ^ "Pau Cubarsí". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Barcelona teenage sensation Pau Cubarsi breaks club Champions League record in place for 20 years with man-of-the-match display in European debut against Napoli". Goal. 13 March 2024.
- ^ a b "Pau Cubarsi named LALIGA EA SPORTS Under-23 Player of the Month for March". La Liga. 27 March 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ a b "FC Barcelona made a New Monster out of Pau Cubarsi". Soccersat. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
- ^ a b c Gascón, Javier (1 November 2022). "Pau Cubarsí, 15 años, tercer debutante más joven del Barça en la UEFA Youth League" [Pau Cubarsí, 15 years old, Barça's third youngest debutant in the UEFA Youth League]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 August 2023.
- ^ "Pau Cubarsí reconoce tener problemas para hablar en castellano: "He hablado toda la vida en catalán"". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 26 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ "¿Quién es Pau Cubarsí?" [Who is Pau Cubarsí?]. sport.es (in Spanish). 20 April 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
- ^ "Pau Cubarsí firma su continuidad en el Juvenil del FC Barcelona" [Pau Cubarsí signs his continuity in the Juvenil of FC Barcelona]. sport.es (in Spanish). 8 July 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
- ^ Martí, Anaïs (10 July 2023). "Así transcurrió el primer entrenamiento del Barça de Xavi 23-24" [This is how Xavi's first Barça training session went 23-24]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 August 2023.
- ^ "Unionistas de Salamanca 1–3 FC Barcelona: One step closer". FC Barcelona. 18 January 2024.
- ^ "Record breaking XI against Betis". FC Barcelona. 21 January 2024.
- ^ "Pau Cubarsí, a record breaking centre half". FC Barcelona. 10 April 2024.
- ^ "Agreement to extend Pau Cubarsí contract to 2027". FC Barcelona. 9 May 2024.
- ^ Millar, Colin; Ballús, Pol. "Barcelona's Cubarsi signs contract extension through to 2027". The Athletic. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
- ^ Pau Cubarsí at WorldFootball.net
- ^ "Pau Cubarsí vive en una nube: 17 años, puede hacer historia en la selección, titular con el Barça, MVP en Champions..." Marca (in Spanish). 15 March 2024.
- ^ "Barcelona starlet Pau Cubarsi reacts to becoming Spain's youngest-ever defender in defeat to Colombia". Goal. 23 March 2024.
- ^ "Euro 2024 provisional squad". Royal Spanish Football Federation. 27 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ^ "Official | Final Spain squad for the Euro 2024 finals". Royal Spanish Football Federation. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ Pau Cubarsí at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^ Ronay, Barney (9 August 2024). "Camello's extra-time double clinches football gold for Spain against France". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
External links
edit- Profile at the FC Barcelona website
- Profile at the Royal Spanish Football Federation website (in Spanish)
- Pau Cubarsí – UEFA competition record (archive)