Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi join Pele, Mbappe and only seven other players to win the World Cup before turning 20

worldsoccertalk.com · 2 weeks ago

Spain claimed the 2026 World Cup, allowing Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi to etch their names into the tournament's history books. Spain’s 1-0 triumph over Argentina in the 2026 World Cup final didn’t just deliver the trophy, it also cemented Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi as members of one of the most exclusive clubs in the tournament’s history. Both teenagers lifted the trophy before turning 20, joining a list that stretches back to the very first editions of the World Cup. Yamal, who turned 19 just days before the final, becomes the fifth-youngest World Cup winner ever, while Cubarsi, also 19, slots in among the same elite company. Their achievement places them alongside legends like Pele and Kylian Mbappe, two of only a handful of players to lift the sport’s biggest prize as teenagers. Winning a World Cup at such a young age has always been rare, and Spain’s title run adds two new names to a list that, until this tournament, only counted eight members across 76 years of history. How many players have won the World Cup before turning 20? Including Yamal and Cubarsi, only ten players in World Cup history have won the tournament before their 20th birthday. The group spans nine different editions, from Uruguay’s triumph in 1950 through Spain’s win in 2026, and includes representatives from four different countries: Brazil, Italy, Uruguay and France, now joined by Spain. Lamine Yamal celebrates Ferran Torres’ goal vs Argentina. (Getty Images) Chronological list of all players Ruben Moran (Uruguay, 1950) – 19 years, 344 daysPele (Brazil, 1958) – 17 years, 249 daysJose Altafini, listed by FIFA as Mazzola (Brazil, 1958) – 19 years, 309 daysCoutinho (Brazil, 1962) – 19 years, 6 daysMarco Antonio (Brazil, 1970) – 19 years, 135 daysGiuseppe Bergomi (Italy, 1982) – 18 years, 174 daysRonaldo (Brazil, 1994) – 17 years, 298 daysKylian Mbappe (France, 2018) – 19 years, 207 daysLamine Yamal (Spain, 2026) – 19 years, 6 daysPau Cubarsi (Spain, 2026) – 19 years, 178 days Where Yamal and Cubarsi rank among the youngest Ranked strictly by age, Pele remains the youngest World Cup winner ever at 17 years and 249 days, followed by Ronaldo at 17 years and 298 days and Bergomi at 18 years and 174 days. Yamal slots in just behind that trio, tied with Coutinho at 19 years and 6 days, making him the fourth-youngest World Cup winner in history. Cubarsi ranks seventh overall at 19 years and 178 days, sitting between Marco Antonio and Mbappe, whose own famous triumph with France in 2018 came at 19 years and 207 days. Between them, Yamal and Cubarsi give Spain two representatives inside the ten youngest World Cup winners of all time, a distinction no other nation besides Brazil currently holds.