At the ongoing European 2024 Championships in Germany, Lamine Yamal is the youngest – ever footballer to play in the tournament.
On 15 June, he made his debut in the European competition against Croatia, becoming the youngest player to feature in the tournament, aged 16 years and 338 days, breaking the previous record of Poland’s Kacper Kozłowski.
Born 13 july 2007 in Esplugues del Llobregat, Spain, to a Moroccan father and mother from Equatorial Guinea, when Yamal was seven years old, his family moved to Barcelona where he joined FC Barcelona’s youth academy La Masia .
He grew through the ranks of the Bacelona youth team and was soon viewed as one of the Academy’s promising stars. At La Masia he raced through the age categories quicker than any other player of his generation.
Yamal made history as the youngest player to represent FC Barcelona since the 15 year old Amando Sagi in 1922, when he made his debut in April 2023 at the age of 15 years, 9 months and 16 days. Since then he has become a first team regular both in Barca and the Spanish national team breaking many records on the way .
He is the youngest to score in Barcelona history, the 2nd youngest to feature in champions league. He won his first title with Barça on 14 May 2023, having been part of the squad that won the 2022–23 La Liga. He received his first senior international call- up on september 1 at the age of 16 years 50 days for the Euros qualifier against Georgia and Cyprus.
He ball ability, maturity and his brilliant performances on the pitch has seen him receive standing ovations from the fans on numerous occasions. Most noticeable his performance for Spain during an international friendly against Brazil which saw him receive a standing ovation from both fans at the Santiago Bernabeu .
Lamine Yamal stands out for his ability to take players on, create chances and for his versatility as he can play as a striker, attacking midfielder or on the right wing. The 16 – year old sensation has slowly become one of the best wingers in the world and is being compared to the great Lionel Messi.
Yamal, who is still a school student, revealed that his school had assigned him homework and assignments for the duration of the European Championship in Germany. There are viral videos of the 16 year old sensation doing his homework while competing at the Euros.
When asked about being the youngest player ever in the tournament, Yamal said: “Does it scare me? No, in the end, it’s one more piece of information. It doesn’t scare me, I play the same. I try to focus on playing well and I think in the end it only helps me because when I do something well it will be magnified because of my age, obviously. I think it only helps me.”
Credits: Goal.com, Wikipedia, Barcelona FC
