Two careers that began in the grassroots football fields of the Canary Islands that have reached glory by lifting the World Cup with the Spanish national team. Pedri González and Yéremy Pino have been distinguished with the 2026 Canary Sports Award for best individual career, a joint recognition for two of the great protagonists of Spanish football who this year have reached the pinnacle of their sport.
Both footballers, members of the national team that was proclaimed world champion last July, will share the award with the wrestler Eusebio Ledesma, whose candidacy also won ex aequo in this category.
The recognition, granted by the Government of the Canary Islands through the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sports, headed by Poli Suárez, is a tribute to two careers that, despite their youth, are already part of the history of sports in the islands. The joint candidacy of both players was one of the two proposals chosen by the jury of the Canary Sports Awards, which this year celebrate their third edition.
The award also has a special meaning for Pedri, who was already distinguished in 2024, during the first edition of these awards. A year later, the recognition went to the Gran Canarian bodyboarder Armide Soliveres, the first Spaniard to be proclaimed world champion in this discipline. Now, the footballer from Tegueste once again receives the distinction, this time accompanied by Yéremy Pino, with whom he has shared one of the greatest successes in the history of Spanish football.
The second star
July 19, 2026 will be forever etched in the memory of Spanish sports. Sixteen years after the historic conquest of South Africa, the national team led by Luis de la Fuente was once again proclaimed world champion after defeating Argentina in the final played in New Jersey. Among the members of that generation that conquered the second star for Spain were Pedri González and Yéremy Pino, two footballers trained in the Canary Islands who took the name of the islands to the highest level of international football.
The FC Barcelona midfielder, born in Tegueste and who made the leap to professionalism with Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, and the Crystal Palace forward, a native of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, are part of a generation that has returned Spain to the elite of world football. Both continue to be important pieces in Luis de la Fuente's plans, with whom they also won the UEFA Nations League in 2023.
The World Cup has been the culmination of an extraordinary season for both players, who have also celebrated titles with their respective clubs and have established themselves as benchmarks in European football.
Canary talent
At 23 years old, Pedri González has become one of the most recognized midfielders on the international stage. Trained in the youth ranks of Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, with whose first team he debuted as a teenager, his talent took him to FC Barcelona, where he has established himself as a fundamental player for the Blaugrana team.
His ability to interpret the game, his vision, and his technical quality have made him one of the great references of his generation. In 2026, in addition to winning the World Cup with Spain, he added the League and Spanish Super Cup titles with FC Barcelona to his record, extending a career that already includes numerous collective successes and individual awards.
For his part, Yéremy Pino, born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 2002, has followed an equally brilliant career path. After taking his first steps in island football, he continued his training at Villarreal CF, a club with which he reached professional elite and won the Europa League in 2021.
His progression later led him to English football, where he joined Crystal Palace. With the London club, he has also experienced an unforgettable year, winning the Conference League in 2026, the club's first European title in history.
Two different paths, but united by talent and the same origin. Pedri and Yéremy represent the potential of the Canary Islands' youth academies and are role models for thousands of boys and girls who are starting to play football on the islands' fields with the dream of following in their footsteps one day.
Shared recognition
The election of Pedri and Yéremy Pino as winners of this award highlights a historic season for Canarian football, marked by the conquest of a world championship in which both had the opportunity to represent their land on the biggest international stage.
Their joint candidacy shares the recognition of this third edition with that of Eusebio Ledesma, a prominent figure in Canarian wrestling, in a jury decision that allows for the recognition, within the same category, of careers from different generations and sports disciplines.
The footballers will receive the 2026 Canarian Sports Award at the gala to be held on November 13, coinciding with ExpoDeca, the Canary Islands Physical Activity and Sports Fair, which will once again become a meeting point and showcase for the archipelago's sporting talent.
A distinction that recognizes two footballers who left the Canary Islands chasing a dream and who, after conquering the world, also receive the homage of their land.
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