From Barcelona to N.C. State: This is Adrià Muñoz, a 19-year-old prospect who will play for the Wolfpack
A teenager trained at Barça’s legendary La Masia academy, Muñoz will now seek to spur the Wolfpack on to a first ever NCAA championship.
A youngster trained by Barcelona’s famed youth academy will be part of North Carolina State’s latest push for a first ever men’s college-soccer title, having joined the Wolfpack ahead of the new NCAA Division I season.
Adrià Muñoz, a winger who last played for Barça’s under-18 team, was officially announced as an N.C. State signing in late July, as Marc Hubbard’s men prepare to kick off the 2026 regular season in just over two weeks’ time.
Capped by Spain under-15s, Muñoz spent five years in Barça’s academy. Known as La Masia, the LaLiga club’s legendary youth setup has developed some of soccer’s all-time greats - most notably, the eight-time Ballon d’Or recipient Lionel Messi.
During his time at La Masia, Muñoz learned his trade alongside the recent World Cup winners Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí, who are both now fixtures in the Barça XI.
Although Muñoz leaves Camp Nou without making his senior debut, the teenager was called up to train with the first team earlier this year, ahead of a late-season LaLiga game against Celta Vigo in April.
Speed and physical presence
“Adrià has been developed in one of the best footballing cultures in the world,” Hubbard told the Raleigh News & Observer last week. “He arrives hungry to compete, grow, and help push our standard even higher.”
Muñoz’s agent, Bruno Lago, told the News & Observer that the teenager, who joined the Wolfpack ahead of several other NCAA suitors, is a player who can bring his pace and physicality to bear on N.C. State’s team.
Lago, of the UDB Sports agency, added that Muñoz hopes to help the Wolfpack to the Division I title, before making the leap to Major League Soccer, the U.S.’s elite men’s professional division.
Muñoz is not the only player to swap north-eastern Spain for North Carolina in recent days. The Wolfpack have also announced the capture of defender Oriol Comas, from Barça’s fellow Catalan club Girona.
When does N.C. State’s 2026 season start?
In the 2026 Division I season, N.C. State will attempt to take the final step towards its maiden national championship, after narrowly losing out on last year’s title. In the 2025 NCAA tournament, Hubbard’s team endured an agonizing defeat in the championship game in December, losing 3-2 to Harrison Bertos’s overtime golden goal for the Washington Huskies.
The Wolfpack now begins its 2026 campaign on Thursday, August 20, hosting the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in the first of 16 regular-season games.
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