"Yes, I imagined it. He’s been my idol since childhood," Pau Cubarsí said, answering a question about what it would be like to face Lionel Messi at the World Cup. The 19-year-old Barcelona defender, speaking in a wide-ranging interview, said he has never seen Messi in person but would even swap shirts if the two met on the biggest stage.
Cubarsí tied the personal image to professional resolve in the same breath. "I would have preferred to play with him on my team, but if I have him in front of me, I’ll give it my all and try to defend him as best I can," he said — a line that distilled both admiration and the competitive instinct a coach wants from a young defender preparing for a major tournament.
The comments land as Spain prepares to open its 2026 World Cup campaign on June 18 against Cape Verde, a fixture the defender acknowledged is the immediate focus. Whether a meeting with Argentina will happen — and whether it would pair Cubarsí against the Argentine forward he idolizes — depends entirely on the tournament draw and how far both teams progress.
Cubarsí did not limit his attention to Messi. He described Julian Alvarez as "a spectacular player" and reminded listeners that "we all know the quality he possesses," while also noting the swirl of transfer speculation around Alvarez. "There are many rumors, as there are every summer, but I’m focusing on the ones we have now: Ferran and Gordon, who has just joined," he said, signaling that his present priorities sit with teammates and immediate squad plans rather than off-field gossip.
His appraisal of Anthony Gordon was more granular. Having faced Newcastle in last season’s Champions League, Cubarsí said he had watched and studied Gordon closely. "He’s very good. He’s a player I’ve watched quite a bit and studied because we’ve played against him this season," Cubarsí said. "He’s a very versatile striker, who’s great at finding space… He’s a player committed to the team, and I really like that."
That measured scouting of an opponent is the same composure Cubarsí says he would bring to a hypothetical encounter with Messi — the man he calls his childhood idol. The juxtaposition is the story’s friction: a teenager who dreams of wearing the same shirt as his hero also promises to mark him with the same intensity he would any opposing forward.
Context narrows the stakes. Argentina enter the tournament as the reigning world champions, and this 2026 edition would mark Lionel Messi’s sixth and final World Cup campaign if he plays. Spain and Argentina are placed in different groups, so any clash would come in the knockout phase, possibly as late as a tournament decider — precisely the scenario Cubarsí said he would love to play in, naming Argentina as the opponent he would choose for a hypothetical World Cup final.
Those possibilities are why the immediate timeline matters. Spain’s opener on June 18 provides the first public test of the squad’s shape and of how much of Cubarsí’s talk will translate to action on the field. For now, his lines about idolization, jersey-swapping and tactical preparedness give a preview of a young defender balancing fandom with professional duty.
What remains unresolved is the clearest question coming from Cubarsí’s interview: will the bracket unfold so that this admirer gets the chance to mark his hero on football’s biggest stage? The answer will arrive in matches, not interviews — beginning with Spain’s match against Cape Verde and the rounds that follow.
