Barcelona’s 2026 World Cup winner Pau Cubarsí reveals the surprising reason he can still walk around his hometown unnoticed

At just 19, Pau Cubarsí has already won the World Cup with Spain, become a cornerstone of Barcelona’s defense and turned into one of the brightest young talents in world soccer. But despite all that, there’s one place where fame hasn’t really caught up with him.

Speaking in a wide-ranging interview with El País, the defender revealed that he can still walk around his tiny hometown without attracting much attention, thanks to the people who have known him since childhood.

“It’s because they already know me,” Cubarsí explained when asked why life back home remains so normal. “I’ve always been there. I’ve grown up with them. They don’t see me as a footballer, they see me as Pau.”

That hometown is Estanyol, a village of around 200 residents in Spain’s Girona province, where his parents still run the family’s carpentry business.

Cubarsí admitted the first signs of fame came only after leaving Barcelona’s La Masia academy.

“When you go to the barber’s or out for dinner and people ask for a photo, even if it’s only one or two people, that’s when it hits you,” he said. “You realize people know who you are because they’ve seen you on TV.”

Away from the spotlight, though, the Barcelona defender insists he’s still the same person. He shares an apartment in Barcelona with his sister, cooks simple meals like omelets, rice and pasta, and stays active in the WhatsApp group with his seven close friends from school.

Those friendships, he says, haven’t changed.

“We still go on vacation together and make plans whenever we can,” Cubarsí said.

That grounded outlook also shapes how he handles praise and criticism. Rather than paying attention to every outside opinion, he says he values feedback from family, coaches and people he trusts, while trying to ignore the rest.

It’s a remarkably down-to-earth approach for someone who has already become one of the faces of both Barcelona and the Spanish national team. And judging by life in Estanyol, he’ll always just be “Pau.”

Why Cubarsí says home feels different

The contrast between Barcelona and Estanyol couldn’t be much greater. In the city, fans regularly stop him for selfies after training or while grabbing dinner. Back in his village, however, he’s simply another local who grew up there.

For Cubarsí, that’s exactly how he likes it.

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