Lamine Yamal

Lamine Yamal turned 17 the day before Spain beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final, which made him the youngest player to appear in a EURO or World Cup showpiece [3]. The final was played in Berlin [3]. Two years later he is 19, has a World Cup winner's medal to go with his European title, and is in the race for the 2026 Ballon d'Or [12].

Age and where he is from

Yamal was born on 13 July 2007 [8] [7]. As of October 2026 he is 19. The sources disagree on his birthplace. VAVEL gives Esplugues de Llobregat, in Spain [8], while the Ballon d'Or's player page gives Mataró [7]. Both are given here until the sources agree.

He is Spanish and plays for the Spain national team [8]. He has been a full member of Barcelona's first-team squad since July 2024 [5]. The club said that in the previous season he had played at least fifty games for the first team and scored seven goals [5].

Barcelona: the record years

Yamal made his Barcelona debut against Real Betis, and the club says he became the youngest player ever to debut for the club [4]. His first start came against Cádiz, aged 16 years and 38 days. That made him the youngest player of the 21st century to start a LaLiga game [6] [4].

The records came quickly after that. At Granada on 8 October 2023, aged 16 years and 87 days, he became the youngest goalscorer for any team in La Liga history [4]. He made his Champions League debut on 19 September 2023, in a 5-0 win over Royal Antwerp, and he was the youngest Barcelona player to debut in the competition [4].

In the Champions League knockout rounds he became the youngest player ever to appear in a knockout match, away at Napoli, aged 16 years and 223 days [4]. That night he also started alongside Pau Cubarsí, and the club notes it was the first Champions League knockout line-up to include two players under 18 [4].

He reached 100 matches for the club at 17 years and 291 days, the youngest Barcelona player to do so [4]. In the semi-final against Inter Milan he scored, becoming the youngest player to score in a Champions League semi-final [4].

On 26 October 2024, aged 17 years and 105 days, he became the youngest Barcelona goalscorer against Real Madrid, beating a record that had belonged to Ansu Fati [4]. In January 2024 he scored in the Copa del Rey, becoming the youngest player to score in that competition this century [4]. He was also the youngest player ever to feature in the Spanish Super Cup, and in the semi-final against Osasuna he became the youngest player to score in it [4].

Spain: from debut to the Kopa Trophy

He made his Spain debut against Georgia at 16 years and 57 days, the youngest debutant the national team has had, and he scored in the same match [4]. At Euro 2024 he became the youngest player to take part in the tournament, in the opening game against Croatia, aged 16 [4].

UEFA named him Young Player of the Tournament, with the announcement made on 14 July 2024 [2]. He played in all seven of Spain's matches, starting six, and he finished with four assists, the most of any player at the tournament [2]. He scored against France in the semi-final and became the youngest scorer in EURO history [2]. In the final he set up the opening goal for Nico Williams [2]. He was the youngest player ever to win a major international trophy, a day after his 17th birthday [4].

He won the Kopa Trophy in 2024 and again in 2025. Sports Illustrated reports that in 2025 he became the first player to win the award twice [14], and Gulf News describes him as the first player to retain it [15]. Sports Illustrated also reported that he won the 2024 Golden Boy award at 17 [13].

The 2026 World Cup

Yamal scored in a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia on 21 June 2026 in Atlanta. He scored in the 11th minute, his first World Cup goal and his first World Cup start [11]. Sky Sports notes that he is only the second player aged 18 or younger to open the scoring in a World Cup match, after Pelé in 1958 [11].

Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in the final on 19 July 2026 at the New York New Jersey Stadium. Ferran Torres scored the only goal in the 106th minute of extra time [9]. NBC Sports reported that Yamal took more shots, completed more dribbles and won more tackles than any other player in the final, and that his cross led to Torres's winner [10]. Fox Sports noted that he scored only once in the whole tournament [9].

The win made him the youngest player to win both the European Championship and the World Cup, at 19 years and 6 days [4].

The 2026 Ballon d'Or race

Yamal finished second in the 2025 Ballon d'Or, behind Ousmane Dembélé [8]. A news item on the Ballon d'Or site says he has been nominated in two categories for the 2026 ceremony [7].

Al Jazeera's preview, published on 25 October 2026, puts Yamal among the top three in the bookmakers' odds, alongside Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé [12]. The same article says that on individual numbers alone, Mbappé's statistics are far better than Yamal's [12].

A win would make Yamal the youngest Ballon d'Or winner, ahead of Ronaldo Nazario, who was 21 when he won in 1997 [12]. No teenager has won the award in its 70-year history [12]. As of 25 October 2026 the 2026 award had not been given, and the preview refers to the ceremony in London on the Monday after it was published [12].