"If I were a full-back I wouldn't like it if a player who is much better than me kept getting away from me all the time," Yamal told 60 Minutes. "I'd ask them: 'Please slow down a little!' Otherwise my friends would make memes about it." He was talking about himself. At 19, that's either supreme self-awareness or supreme arrogance. With Yamal, it's just the truth.
This season removed any remaining debate. Yamal was undisputably the best player in La Liga — and the argument for best in the world is no longer a stretch. He combined for nearly 50 goals for club and country, scored in five consecutive games, and hit his first career hat-trick. He scored an improbable bicycle kick against Real Oviedo, a curler that clanged the post against Athletic, and a slick give-and-go in Bruges that belonged on a different planet.
The weight Barcelona put on his shoulders
With Raphinha repeatedly sidelined and Robert Lewandowski increasingly a peripheral figure, Yamal didn't just fill the gap — he swallowed it whole. His share of Barcelona's attacking responsibility, measured by take-ons and shots, made him an outlier across Europe's top five leagues. He even stepped up to take penalties. At 18.
Even when Yamal sat out Barcelona's La Liga-clinching El Clasico win, his fingerprints were all over the title. Messi himself, when asked to name the player with the biggest future in the game, didn't hesitate: "Because of the age and the future that he has — without doubt, Lamine Yamal."
The Ballon d'Or record is in his sights. Ronaldo Nazário won it at 21 in 1997 — the youngest in the award's history. Neither Cristiano nor Messi got close to that benchmark at a comparable age. Yamal, who finished runner-up last year, is already ahead of both their early trajectories. That changes the calculus on any long-term Ballon d'Or market dramatically.
The injury that complicates everything
None of which makes the current situation any less frustrating. Yamal has been managing a chronic groin problem throughout the season and is now expected to miss at least Spain's opening World Cup game with a hamstring injury. For a player carrying this much of his team's attacking threat, even a partial absence reshapes Spain's odds in the early rounds.
His record against France alone justifies the hype. His screamer in the Euro semi-finals knocked them out. He then scored twice against them in a Nations League thriller that ended 5-4 to Spain, with the score reaching 5-1 at one stage. Mbappé, his rival at Real Madrid, was on the losing side both times.
- Euro 2024 winner — as a 16-year-old starter
- Over 100 appearances for Barcelona before turning 19
- Three championship-winning teams already
- Nearly 50 goal involvements for club and country this season
There's a broader irony running through all of this. Barcelona carry €1.8 billion in gross debt — much of it accumulated chasing replacements for Neymar who never really worked. Dembélé, Coutinho, Griezmann. €403 million spent, none of it necessary, had they just trusted what was coming through La Masia. Yamal is now the most valuable player in the world, and he cost them nothing.
"He's the present," Messi said, "and without a doubt has a huge future." Spare the inspirational framing though — the present alone is already extraordinary. The question heading into this World Cup isn't whether Yamal can handle the stage. It's whether his hamstring lets him onto it.
