Surpassing Pele’s 66-year-old record and accomplishing feats that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could only imagine at his age.
Undoubtedly, Lamine Yamal has revolutionized the world of football over the past year, culminating on Sunday when he became the youngest player to win a European Championship or World Cup at just 17 years and one day old Bongdalu.
The Barcelona winger assisted Nico Williams’ opening goal in their 2-1 victory over England in the Euro 2024 final and also compelled Jordan Pickford to make two outstanding saves.
No player contributed to more goals in Euro 2024 than Yamal, who recorded one goal and four assists.
No one has provided more assists in a single European Championship since record-keeping started in 1980.
And no one had ever directly contributed to goals in a quarter-final, semi-final, and final until Yamal accomplished this feat.
Unsurprisingly, he was awarded the Young Player of the Tournament title.
I am extremely happy; this is a dream come true,” said Yamal. “I can’t wait to return to Spain and celebrate with all the fans. It’s the best birthday present ever.
According to former England defender Rio Ferdinand, the teenager is a ‘sensation’ and an ‘elite player’.
He was already a star before this tournament, but now he’s a superstar,” he added.
Over the past few weeks, Yamal has become the youngest player to participate in, assist a goal in, and score a goal in the Euros.
He isn’t just potential; he’s already one of the most thrilling players in the world.
Former Spain midfielder Juan Mata, speaking on BBC One, shared: ‘I had dinner yesterday with [Barcelona manager] Xavi, and he mentioned he hasn’t witnessed a player of this caliber.
This is the same Xavi who played alongside the legendary Messi at Barcelona.
I prefer not to draw comparisons between players or liken them to Messi, but I truly believe this kid has limitless potential,” added Mata.
What has Barcelona winger Yamal, who celebrated his 17th birthday on Saturday, accomplished thus far in his career—and what makes it so remarkable?
How uncommon is Yamal’s breakthrough?
Before turning 17, Yamal had already made 51 appearances for Barcelona, scoring seven goals and assisting seven more. For Spain, he has earned 14 caps, scoring three goals and providing seven assists.
In comparison, neither Argentina’s Messi nor Portugal’s Ronaldo—the two greatest players of their generation—had played a single first-team match for club or country by the age of 16. Even when considering potential successors to Messi and Ronaldo in the race for the Ballon d’Or, such as France’s Kylian Mbappe and Norway’s Erling Haaland, their statistics at this age do not match Yamal’s achievements. Mbappe had made four appearances for Monaco, with one assist, before turning 17, while Haaland had played 23 matches in Norway for Bryne and Molde, scoring once.
Even one of the most renowned players to emerge at 16, Wayne Rooney, had only appeared 10 times for Everton and scored three goals before reaching the age of 17 Bongdaso.
The club records that Yamal has shattered
Not all of Yamal’s appearances came at the age of 16; he made his Barcelona debut even younger. At 15 years and 290 days, he became Barcelona’s youngest player in the La Liga era, replacing Gavi with six minutes left in a 4-0 victory over Real Betis on 29 April 2023.
At 16 years and 38 days, he set another record by becoming the youngest player since 1939 to start a La Liga match, featuring in a 2-0 win against Cadiz on 20 August. Just a week later, he achieved another milestone as the youngest player to assist a La Liga goal in the 21st century, providing the cross for Gavi to score in a thrilling 4-3 victory over Villarreal.
He continued to break records, becoming the youngest player to start a Champions League match at 16 years and 83 days in a 1-0 win against Porto on 4 October. Four days later, he cemented his place in history as the youngest goalscorer in La Liga, scoring in the first half of a 2-2 draw with Granada.
He holds the record as the youngest player in El Clasico, the youngest to assist a goal in the Champions League at 16 years and 153 days in Antwerp, and the youngest player to both feature in and score in the Spanish Super Cup.
Yamal also became the youngest player to score in the Spanish Cup this century, the youngest to score twice in a La Liga match, and the youngest to appear in a Champions League knockout game and later a quarter-final.
Predictably, he is also the youngest player to reach 50 appearances for Barcelona and 10 Champions League appearances.
Despite his achievements, Yamal falls short of Armand Martinez Sagi’s records. Martinez Sagi became Barcelona’s youngest player and scorer at age 14 in the Catalan Championship in 1920, nine years before Spain established a national league.
Among the few major records he has yet to achieve are the youngest player in the Champions League (currently held by Youssoufa Moukoko, who was 16 years and 18 days old for Borussia Dortmund against Zenit St Petersburg in 2020) and in La Liga (held by Luka Romero, who was 15 years and 219 days old when he debuted for Mallorca against Real Madrid in 2020).
While he has not yet scored in the Champions League, Yamal will not have the opportunity to break Ansu Fati’s record as the youngest scorer, set at 17 years and 40 days for Barcelona against Inter Milan in 2019, in that tournament.
The records Yamal has shattered for Spain
On 8 September 2023, Yamal made history for Spain by becoming their youngest player and goalscorer in the same match, a 7-1 victory over Georgia in Euro 2024 qualifying. At just 16 years and 57 days old, he came on for Dani Olmo just before half-time, achieving this milestone even before scoring for Barcelona.
Only Martin Odegaard, who was 15 years and 300 days old when he played for Norway in 2014, has been younger while playing in a European Championship qualifier.
During this summer’s finals, Yamal shattered nearly every record imaginable, even balancing school homework during downtime in Germany.
He became the first 16-year-old to compete in a men’s Euros when he started in their group stage opener against Croatia.
Yamal also provided the assist for Dani Carvajal’s goal, securing a 3-0 victory in that game and becoming the youngest player to assist in Euros history.
In the semi-final against France, he further etched his name in the record books as the youngest goalscorer in European Championship history, achieving this at just 16 years and 362 days old.
In that match, he surpassed two of Pele’s long-standing landmarks from 1958—becoming the youngest player to score in a Euros or World Cup and the youngest to feature in the semi-finals of either. He then went on to break Pele’s record as the youngest player to reach either final.
The only unique milestone he missed was becoming the first 16-year-old or 17-year-old to score in a Euros. Yamal turned 17 the day before the final, and the previous youngest Euros goalscorer was Johan Vonlanthen, who was 18.
Since his debut in September 2023, Yamal has been involved in more goals for Spain than anyone else (scoring three goals and providing seven assists).