Lamine Yamal only turned 19 on Monday, but he is already the best young forward on the planet.
A breakout 2023-24 season with Barcelona ended with him being included in Spain’s Euro 2024 squad, and like Mbappe in 2018, he shone in his first major tournament and inspired his team to glory.
Last year he was the Ballon d’Or runner-up aged 18, but a hamstring injury sustained in April disrupted his preparations for the World Cup.
With just one goal in five starts, he certainly has not sparkled like Mbappe, Messi or Jude Bellingham.
“I ask him to be calm,” said manager Luis de la Fuente. “He came of age last year. He is 19. Now imagine I just told him to be calm, enjoy and forget about any anxiety. He should enjoy his football. The big day for Lamine has yet to come at this World Cup.”
Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams’ lack of fitness has forced manager Luis de la Fuente to tweak Spain’s style – the European champions created chaos down the wings, whereas the current side prioritise control.
“It means Lamine Yamal is working with less space, more defenders doubling up on him, and less dynamism in Spain’s game as a whole,” says Spanish football journalist Ruairidh Barlow.
“So to a certain extent, it’s logical that he isn’t dazzling. What De la Fuente and Spain need from him – banking on control of the game and a solid defence – is two or three moments per game in which he unlocks or unbalances the defence. So far he has more or less provided that.”
De la Fuente reinforced that idea before Lamine Yamal won more duels than any of his team-mates in the quarter-final victory against Belgium.
“This is the moment for him,” the manager said. “Not the moment to score 10 goals, but the moment to be decisive in decisive matches.”
The strength of this Spain team is rooted in the collective, but there is still a level of deference to the 19-year-old.
“We sometimes forget his age and perhaps we demand too much of him, but he’s so capable,” Xavi, who gave Lamine Yamal his Barcelona debut, wrote in The Athletic., external
“He has such an ability to do so many things on the pitch that his influence has grown. Team-mates search for him more. When there are problems at various points in the match, the ball goes to Lamine.
“He’s a leader on the pitch who makes the difference at a young age – something we’ve only seen with Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Pele and maybe Ronaldo [Nazario].
“The next 15 to 20 years belong to Lamine, if he wants.”
