Will the young star break the rule?Hours before the 2026 Ballon d’Or winner is revealed, a striking signal has emerged from inside Barcelona that could carry implications for Lamine Yamal’s chances in the race for football’s most important individual award. One of his teammates will be absent from the awaited ceremony in London.”El Partidazo de COPE”, presented by Juanma Castaño on Spain’s COPE radio, revealed that Pau Cubarsi, the Barcelona defender and Ballon d’Or nominee, will not travel to London for the ceremony.According to journalist Helena Condis, Cubarsi needs rest and some distance from the occasion after finishing the Clasico against Real Madrid with a slight rise in temperature.The Spanish defender’s absence comes at a telling moment. He ranked among the leading candidates to win the Kopa Trophy, awarded to the best young player in the world, and his withdrawal turns attention towards teammate Lamine Yamal, who looks the frontrunner according to the circulating predictions.Next matchesBARLaLiga01 Nov 202604:00ALAHere lies the irony. No winner of the Kopa Trophy has ever claimed the Ballon d’Or in the same year. No player has combined the two awards in a single edition of the ceremony.The organising body confirmed there is no written rule preventing a player from winning both awards together. History has simply never seen it happen, and that adds a special dimension to the anticipation surrounding this year’s result.Winning the Kopa Trophy would therefore put Yamal in position to break that historic precedent, provided he can also claim the Ballon d’Or. That prospect makes the announcement of both winners a matter of extra interest for Barcelona’s fans.Cubarsi’s absence is a striking development, but it does not by itself reveal who takes the Kopa Trophy. It opens the door to one question: will Yamal settle for the best young player award, or pull off the great surprise and combine it with the Ballon d’Or, ending a precedent that has stood since the two awards began?
