Pau Cubarsí and Lamine Yamal: Spain's Rising Stars at World Cup 2024
Luis de la Fuente insisted last year that Pau Cubarsí’s Euro 2024 snub had nothing to do with age. He said he simply had four centre-backs he rated higher at the time.
That time has gone.
In North America, there are not many defenders playing better than the 19-year-old Barcelona centre-back. At this World Cup, there might not be any.
Spain’s wall, built from the front
Spain have reached the quarter-finals without conceding a goal, a feat built on collective work rather than a single heroic figure. Mikel Oyarzabal harries from the front. Rodri patrols in front of the defence with his usual authority, cutting out danger before it develops.
Behind them, the back five has been close to flawless.
Marc Cucurella is already justifying the €60 million Real Madrid have sent to Chelsea, snapping into duels and offering constant width. Unai Simón has shut down any debate with David Raya or Joan García by stringing together five straight clean sheets. Aymeric Laporte, at 32, looks as assured as at any point in his career. Pedro Porro, so often erratic for Tottenham, looks reborn in a Spain shirt.
Yet Cubarsí still stands out.
A teenager who plays like a veteran
Perhaps this should not shock anyone who has watched his rise.
Cubarsí has been a regular at Barcelona since 17. Xavi labelled him “an era-defining player”. Carles Puyol went further, predicting he would be Barça’s first-choice centre-back for the next 15 years. Those are not compliments handed out lightly at Camp Nou.
The teenager, for his part, insists he feels no pressure on the pitch. That may be true. It does not make what he is doing at a World Cup any less remarkable.
He has barely put a foot wrong defensively. His reading of the game, his timing in the tackle, the calm way he deals with aerial balls – all of it belongs to a player with a decade more experience. Laporte’s presence beside him has clearly helped. De la Fuente has praised the partnership, highlighting the way the veteran’s composure and know-how guide the youngster through key moments.
“At crucial moments, a player like Laporte brings that experience Cuba needs [alongside him], and they complement each other fantastically,” the coach said. “We’ve achieved a phenomenal balance in the centre of defence.”
That balance has given Spain a platform. Cubarsí has given them something more.
A playmaker in the back line
With the ball, Spain effectively gain an extra midfielder. A La Masia graduate, Cubarsí has been schooled in building from the back, breaking lines and dictating tempo.
Only Rodri has completed more passes at this World Cup. That statistic underlines his importance: Spain do not just defend with him, they think through him.
He is one of only four players in De la Fuente’s squad to have played every minute of the tournament so far. At 19. In a World Cup. For a side with genuine ambitions of lifting the trophy.
If Cubarsí has been Spain’s great revelation, Lamine Yamal has been their great riddle.
Yamal searching for ignition
Yamal arrived in North America under a cloud. A hamstring injury had cut short his 2025-26 season with Barcelona and cast doubt over his ability to feature at all. He missed both warm-up games. When he finally appeared, it was for a 19-minute cameo in a flat, goalless draw with Cape Verde.
Then came the reminder of what he can do.
Given a first start in the 4-0 demolition of Saudi Arabia in Atlanta, Yamal transformed Spain’s attack. He opened the scoring and stretched the game in ways no one else in the squad can, dragging defenders out of shape and forcing panic in every one-on-one. Spain looked like a different team with him on the pitch.
Since then, though, his World Cup has stuttered.
His dribbling lit up the round-of-32 rout of Austria, a match that made history as Spain became the first team since 1958 – and Pelé – to start two teenagers in a World Cup knockout tie. Yet when he ran into his old tormentor Nuno Mendes in the 1-0 win over Portugal, the pattern from Euro 2024 repeated itself: tricks, flashes, but very little end product.
So the most feared winger in world football goes into Friday’s quarter-final against Belgium still without an assist at this World Cup. Just five chances created so far. For a player of his talent, those numbers jar.
“That big match will come”
Yamal is not hiding from it.
“I’m very demanding of myself,” he told Mundo Deportivo. “I’m never satisfied with what I’m doing. Besides that, I just need to keep playing. I was out for almost two months, and it’s not the same as when you’ve already played seven games in a row.
“Keep touching the ball, keep playing, keep adding minutes and, obviously, that [big] match will come. In the end, people remember these moments, from the round of 16 and the quarter-finals onwards. That’s when I’m most motivated.
“I’ve taken this whole process calmly so I can arrive at this point in good shape. I feel great, eager to show what we are as Spain and what I am.
“I’ve never been the best player in the group stage. The closer the important matches get, the semi-finals or the final, the better I play.”
For Belgium, and for every other contender, that is a chilling statement.
Yamal already has form for this. At Euro 2024, he grew into the tournament, then rose to the occasion when it mattered most, dragging Spain towards the title with decisive interventions in the latter rounds. If he follows the same pattern here, if the knockout stages once again unlock his best version, Spain suddenly gain the most devastating weapon left in the competition.
Two era-defining talents, one shared stage
De la Fuente left Cubarsí at home for Euro 2024 because he believed he had better options. A year later, the teenager is undroppable. Yamal, once again, is approaching the point of the tournament he believes he was made for.
Spain arrive at the World Cup quarter-finals with an era-defining playmaker in defence and another waiting to explode in attack.
If both ignite at the same time, who stops them?
