The statistics are remarkable, especially when you consider his age. And they keep improving.
Since making his debut, he has won two La Liga titles, although he featured just once during Barcelona’s 2022–23 title-winning campaign. Since then, he has missed only four league games across the past two seasons. He has also lifted the Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup. On the international stage, he has already won the European Championship with Spain.
He wants everything: to lead, to score, to win. But there’s a calmness to his ambition. He doesn’t just dream of being better, he works at it.
Crucially, he knows he’s not there yet. That balance between confidence and humility is what allows him to play with such freedom, as if still in the schoolyard.
It all begins at home. His parents, often discussed publicly but rarely understood, play a crucial role in keeping his feet on the ground. His father is firm, tells it as it is, and is enjoying his son’s success very publicly – perhaps too exposed at the public judgement.
His mother and grandmother offer a different kind of strength – consistent, loving, and deeply rooted in values. They are the quiet force that underpins everything.
That’s how he appears not a teenager overwhelmed, but a boy enjoying the game. It’s not down to ignorance of pressure. It’s a mindset, one that believes the best is still to come, and if it doesn’t arrive, he’ll keep chasing it.
Before the Champions League final he said: “At my age, few have played as many games for a club like Barca, and that’s what I value most. Playing at this level and for a club like Barca isn’t something that anyone can do.”
When asked about the pressure or fear of failure involved with playing at the top level, he said: “I left that fear behind on the pitch in Mataro a while ago.”
He was referring to his old pitch in the district of Rocafonda, where he played as a kid with others three, four and more years older.
His celebration is a tribute to where he comes from – a densely populated, working-class neighbourhood in Mataro, known for its multicultural community, social challenges, and strong sense of local identity. The three last numbers of the postcode is the shape of his fingers when he scores, 304.
Who: Portugal vs Spain What: UEFA Nations League final Where: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany When: Sunday, June 8, 2025 – 3pm kickoff (13:00 GMT)
How to follow our coverage: We’ll have all the build-up from 12pm (10:00 GMT) on Al Jazeera Sport.
Portugal, the inaugural winners in 2019, and defending champions Spain have set up one of the most highly anticipated international finals in years as the pair prepare to face off for the UEFA Nations League trophy.
The final not only pits the Iberian rivals together, but also two of football’s greatest talents – Cristiano Ronaldo and Lamine Yamal.
Although at opposing ends of their careers, both were vital in leading their sides to Sunday’s showdown in Munich.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a closer look at the game – and the mouth-watering prospect of Ronaldo vs Yamal.
How did Portugal reach the Nations League final?
Portugal beat the host nation Germany 2-1 in the first semifinal on Wednesday with Ronaldo scoring the winner.
Liverpool target Florian Wirtz gave the Germans the lead early in the second half before Francisco Conceicao levelled just past the hour mark, with the winner coming five minutes later.
How did Spain fare in their semifinal against France?
Spain and France then served up one of the all-time greats in a 5-4 thriller that saw the latter come from 4-0 and 5-1 down to push the game to the wire.
Yamal scored twice and was the star turn as he outshone the much-lauded French trio of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue – the latter two being fresh from Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League final victory.
Spain’s Lamine Yamal and France’s Kylian Mbappe were among the headline acts in the Nations League semifinal on Thursday [Annegret Hilse/Reuters]
How important is the UEFA Nations League final?
There is little doubt that both finalists, and the defeated semifinalists, will see these final three games of the 2024-2025 edition of the competition as vital game time ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The tournament itself, which runs qualification over a two-year period, has replaced the much-maligned and ever-more meaningless list of friendlies between nations on the continent, providing competitive games to keep club-focused players interested during the global international breaks.
The way the two semifinals have played out has built even greater anticipation for the already notable final, and added weight to the Nations League value as a warm-up competition between the more prestigious World Cups and UEFA European Champions, both of which take place every four years.
On the meeting with Ronaldo in the final, Yamal remarked after the win against France: “Playing against Cristiano? He’s a football legend. I’ll do my job, which is to win the game, and that’s it.”
Is this Lamine Yamal’s moment to shine?
So much of the external focus in the build-up to the game will turn to the showdown between young Barcelona star Yamal and former Real Madrid and Manchester United legend Ronaldo.
Yamal will turn 18 next month and has already stirred imaginations with star turns for the Catalan club over the last two years, helping them to a domestic treble this season. The Barca-born forward also shone for Spain in last summer’s Euro 2024 success, scoring in the semifinal against France – only days before his 17th birthday.
Taking to the field, and battling for the spotlight, with Ronaldo – regarded as arguably the greatest footballer of all time – offers a unique and potentially final chance for Yamal to prove himself against a player who, at 40 years of age, is winding down his career.
Is Yamal in the running for the Ballon d’Or?
With Doue’s rise at PSG this year, and Yamal’s ever-growing stock, the question has now been posed as to whether there is a changing of the guard from Ronaldo and Argentinian legend Lionel Messi as the game’s two best current players.
Both are strong contenders to lift the Ballon d’Or trophy – the award for the global game’s best player each year. Spanish international Rodri is the current holder after helping Manchester City to their unique five-trophy winning year in 2023.
Dembele, Mbappe and his fellow Real star Vinicius Junior will also be in the running for the 2025 award but Sunday’s final could tip the balance in favour of Yamal ahead of the award ceremony in September.
Cristiano Ronaldo, centre, remains integral to Portugal’s plans despite uncertainty about his club future [Angelika Warmuth/Reuters]
What is the latest on Ronaldo’s club future?
Much of the talk heading into the final three games of the UEFA Nations League has focused on Ronaldo’s club future – and whether he would participate at the imminent FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
Ronaldo’s time at Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League appears to be over following a social media post from the forward following the final day of the competition’s season.
The question remains: Where next for Ronaldo? A host of participants at the Club World Cup are being linked with a move for a player who still grabs the headlines the world over, and it would give FIFA’s attempt to elevate the tournament a much-needed boost.
What happened the last time Portugal played Spain?
Spain won 1-0 in Portugal in a Nations League group stage match in 2022 in the last encounter between the sides.
Alvaro Morata netted the only goal of the game in the 88th minute of the match at Estadio Municipal de Braga.
Spain’s Alvaro Morata, right, celebrates with Nico Williams after scoring in the Nations League match in Portugal in 2022 [Pedro Nunes/Reuters]
Head-to-head – Portugal vs Spain
Although this will be a first meeting for Yamal and Ronaldo, the Spain and Portugal on-field rivalry dates back to a friendly in 1921.
Spain won the fixture 2-1 in December of that year and have claimed victory in 17 of the 34 encounters overall.
Portugal have only recorded six wins against their neighbours, with the last being in a friendly in 2010.
Six of the following seven matches have ended in a draw.
Who did Spain beat in the 2023 Nations final?
Spain – who were defeated finalists in the 2021 edition of the tournament – beat Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a goalless draw in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in June 2023.
In the 2021 final, the Spaniards were beaten 2-1 by France, whom they face in Thursday’s second semifinal. Their victory in 2023 ended an 11-year search for silverware.
Who did Portugal beat in the inaugural final?
Portugal beat the Netherlands 1-0 in the 2019 final.
The match itself was played on home soil for the Portuguese at Porto’s Estadio do Dragao, where Goncalo Guedes scored the only goal of the game in the 60th minute.
Possible Portugal and Spain lineups:
Potential Portugal XI: Diogo Costa; Joao Neves, Ruben Dias, Inacio, Mendes; Ruben Neves, Bernardo Silva; Trincao, Fernandes, Neto; Ronaldo
Potential Spain XI: Simon; Porro, Huijsen, Le Normand, Cucurella; Zubimendi, Merino, Pedri; Yamal, N Williams, Oyarzabal
Spain and France played out a Nations League semi-final game for the ages with a scoreline that looks like it belongs in a penalty shootout.
The 5-4 win for Spain has everyone wondering if anyone can stop these attackers – although the less said about the defenders, the better.
Spain, who play Portugal in Sunday’s final, are looking for a third Uefa tournament success in a row having won the last Nations League and Euro 2024.
And they are favourites for the World Cup coming up next summer, with France second on the list.
Spain showed why they will be tough to stop after one of the most exciting international games in memory.
A total of 40 shots, 17 on target, nine goals. Spain led 4-0 and 5-1 – and threatened to blow France away – before their rivals rallied.
If only every match was like this.
“It was a crazy game,” said Spain goalscorer Mikel Merino. “Not the best game for the coaches – nobody wants to concede so many goals – but an amazing game for the fans.”
His boss Luis de la Fuente seemed to actually disagree with him.
“I’m happy. I enjoy suffering! I don’t understand sport without suffering,” he said.
“When two great teams face off like today, it’s normal every team makes the most of their moments.”
Lamine Yamal, who turns 18 later this summer, netted twice for Spain to cement his credentials as a Ballon d’Or contender.
He is up to six goals for his country now, to add to 25 for club side Barcelona.
Yamal impressed more than France’s PSG stars – Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue – who were hyped up pre-game after phenomenal club seasons.
Les Bleus debutant Rayan Cherki help spark France’s fightback after coming off the bench to show why he is being linked to Liverpool and Manchester City.
Barcelona sporting director Deco denies the club have financial problems and says they do not need to sell players – despite La Liga’s restrictive financial controls.
Deco, 47, has overseen a revival of Barcelona since his appointment in 2023, culminating in a domestic treble while also reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League.
When asked whether the world should see Barcelona as a well-run club in 2025, Deco told BBC Sport: “Barcelona is my club, I love Barcelona. I saw what happened from the outside and always thought I could help put Barca at the same high level.
“I knew it would be difficult when I joined with the financial rules – it is not a financial problem, but the financial fair play rules in Spain are more difficult than the Premier League and in other countries.
“It is a problem for a lot of clubs, you just hear about Barca because we are a big club. You need to work with it, see how you can improve the team and the combination of La Masia [academy] players and experienced players has been important.”
The former Portugal midfielder, who played for the Catalans – as well as Chelsea and Porto – stresses Barcelona are happy working with La Liga but have faith the rules will continue to improve.
Even if they do not, Barcelona are excited to have “one of the biggest contracts in history” with Nike, and the newly renovated 100,000-seater Nou Camp will be the biggest stadium in Europe and improve revenues.
He insists Barcelona will “not sell our best players”, adding the team’s recent success means they can “grow with many of the same players”. But he says they are in looking for “two, three or four signings”, without needing to enter the market “like crazy” thanks to the stability at the core of the team.
When asked if it includes the option of signing Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, thought to be available for £40m, or Liverpool’s Luis Diaz, he added: “We have been focusing on renewing contracts, after that, we’ll discuss players to come.
“Of course, these two players, like you mentioned, they are good but have contracts in their clubs, so we won’t speak because it’s not fair. But when you decide to go to the market, for sure, we find some names. In my opinion, we don’t need to bring many players.”
He added: “When I speak with the agents of the players, everyone wants to come or stay. So this is important. The image of the club is still good. We are proud because Barcelona is still such a big club, and the way we are playing football makes players want to come.”
Deco is aware of the constant threat of Real Madrid, who will look to improve under new head coach Xabi Alonso.
They have also agreed deals for right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who will leave Liverpool, and Bournemouth centre-back Dean Huijsen. Benfica left-back Alvaro Carreras is understood to be next on the club’s shortlist.
“Next season is not going to be easy, because I know that first Real Madrid has a lot of top players,” he said. “In my opinion they have a big team. They have a lot of fantastic players. Of course they want to improve.
“It’s very important to have a strong Madrid. It’s very important to have strong players, top players, players that the people want to see. I think Madrid has these kinds of players, like us.
“Now it’s important to keep the top players in La Liga. So for us it’s important that Madrid are strong, that Atletico is strong, and we need to be there.”
Global football giants Barcelona have announced a new six-year deal with 17-year-old Spanish international Lamine Yamal.
Spanish teenage sensation Lamine Yamal has signed a new six-year deal with Barcelona, the Catalan football club have announced.
The 17-year-old was an integral part of Barcelona’s domestic treble-winning season and helped to guide Spain to the Euro 2024 title.
Barca won La Liga, the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey this season, which dethroned Real Madrid in the league, while also defeating their fierce rivals in the finals of both the cup competitions.
Yamal, who came through the ranks of the club’s famed La Masia academy, has quickly become renowned for his dribbling, playmaking and goalscoring.
Barca, who are managed by former German national team coach Hansi Flick, also reached the semifinals of the Champions League, where they were eliminated after extra time by Inter Milan.
Yamal scored 18 goals in the past season, and his tally of 13 assists was a league best in the Spanish top flight.
The winger, who can play on either flank, played a significant role in Spain’s 2-1 win against England in the final of the European Championship last summer. He also scored in the 2-1 semifinal victory against France.
Barcelona handed Yamal, who turns 18 in July, his debut in April 2023, and he has already made 106 appearances for the team.
“In 2031, Lamine Yamal is only gonna be 23,” the club said in a post on social media platform X, in a statement regarding how far the player, who joined his hometown club at the age of seven, has come.
Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen, left, and Lamine Yamal lift the trophy after winning La Liga [Albert Gea/Reuters]
There are portraits that precede greatness, snapshots of youthful genius. The boy with the indie-band bangs celebrating on Ronaldinho’s back. The bleach-blonde teen with blaugrana braces leaving a trail of Inter defenders in his wake.
Almost exactly 20 years separated Lionel Messi’s first goal for Barcelona and Lamine Yamal’s sensational Champions League semi-final strike on his 100th appearance for the Catalan giants last month.
Yamal did it again to clinch Barcelona another La Liga title earlier this month, cutting inside on to his left foot and emphatically delivering what is becoming his trademark finish against rivals Espanyol.
That made it two league titles already for Yamal, and the 17-year-old is still a month younger than Messi was when he lobbed the goalkeeper from Ronaldinho’s scooped assist to become La Liga’s then youngest scorer in 2005.
Yamal has also won a Copa del Rey and Super Cup with Barcelona, and a European Championship with Spain just for good measure.
“I don’t want to compare myself with the best player in football’s history,” said the forward last month, but conjecture around whether he can emulate Messi is natural.
The stats show Yamal’s trajectory since his debut aged 15 years and 290 days is rising faster than that of either Messi or the other superstar of his generation, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Yamal, not 18 until July, has already played 105 games at club level and scored 24 goals. By the same age, Messi had scored once in nine senior games for Barca while Ronaldo had netted five goals in 19 games for Sporting.
Yamal also has four goals in his 19 appearances for Spain. Neither Messi nor Ronaldo made their international debut until they turned 18.
“Lamine is Lamine. Leo is Leo,” Barca sporting director Deco told BBC Sport. “Leo was the best player in the history of this club, and, for me, the best player in history.
“So it’s not easy to compare these kinds of things. But Lamine in terms of quality, he can, in the same way, make history like Leo.”
It took Messi, who made his debut at 16, until shortly before his 21st birthday to hit the 100-game mark in Barcelona colours, scoring 41 goals in the process.
But they were the first of an incredible 672 goals for the club, to complement the eight Ballons d’Or, one World Cup, two Copas America, four Champions Leagues and a huge haul of domestic silverware.
“It is not normal,” says former Barcelona midfielder Mark van Bommel of Yamal’s rise. “That’s why everyone is talking about him. [But] to reach the number of Messi, that’s not easy. Even for a guy playing at 17.”
Rocafonda, Spain – The front page of Spain’s biggest sports tabloid Marca screamed LAMINE YA! (Lamine Now!) as speculation mounted over whether the teenage wonder boy would sign a new contract for FC Barcelona.
Lamine Yamal is expected to renew his contract with Barcelona before he turns 18 in July, his agent Jorge Mendes assured reporters last week.
Deco, the sporting director of Barca, denied reports that Yamal’s agent had asked that the 17-year-old be made the highest paid player in the dressing room, while Spanish media speculated that he could look forward to a 10-fold pay increase to more than 15 million euros ($17m) net per season.
Whatever the astronomical sums involved in signing the gifted winger who helped Barca clinch the La Liga title this season, it will seem a world away from the very humble beginnings of this Spanish sporting prodigy.
Yamal grew up in a poor area of Mataro, an industrial town located about 32km (20 miles) north of Barcelona, but it is a world away from the glitz and glamour of the Catalan capital.
The Barca footballer learned his craft on the streets of Rocafonda, a working-class neighbourhood of Mataro.
About half of the 11,000 people who live in this corner of Mataro are classified as “at risk of poverty”, according to the Spanish National Statistics Institute. Many flats appear run down and lack basic modern-day amenities like lifts. One centre in Rocafonda offers help to children who are struggling at school.
With 88 different nationalities in the area, Arabic halal butchers are a common sight.
Evictions are a daily occurrence in Rocafonda as many households struggle to pay the rent, which averages about $1,334 per month, a fortune to many.
A teenage boy plays at Club de Futbol Rocafonda. ‘In Rocafonda, more Lamine Yamals and fewer evictions’, reads the graffiti on the steps [Courtesy of Joan Mateu]
Gen-next inspiration
Nevertheless, football – or rather Yamal – gives people hope here.
“In Rocafonda, more Lamine Yamals and fewer evictions”, reads the graffiti at the Club de Futbol Rocafonda, the municipal football pitch.
Children play nearby, perhaps dreaming that maybe, just maybe, they could be the next Lamine Yamal.
Wearing an Argentina shirt, Mohammed Kaddouri, who is a year younger than Yamal, says the Barca football player is an inspiration to young people here.
“Since Lamine, so many people have started playing football and believe they could be like him. It is not just boys but more girls are playing football too,” he says.
His friend Damia Castillo, also 16, met Yamal when he came back to see his family, who still live in the neighbourhood.
“He always talks to us like he is a normal person, not like he is some big star. He is from here, and so are we. It makes you think, you know, maybe it could be me,” Castillo told Al Jazeera.
Kids play football on the same Rocafonda football pitch used by Lamine Yamal [Courtesy of Joan Mateu]
The Messi effect
Friends said Yamal owes his precocious talents to a baptism of fire playing in the tough streets of Rocafonda.
“Lamine learned to play so well because he started playing with bigger kids. Some of these were bigger than him, and some of them were tough kids,” says family friend Mohammed Ben Serghine.
“Despite what has happened to him with all this fame, he has remained humble, and he is good with the kids when he comes back to Rocafonda to see his family.”
We meet in the Bar El Cordobes, the local bar frequented by Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, who pops in now and again.
On the wall is a yellowing Barca shirt signed by Yamal and replete with his photograph.
Last year, the Spain winger’s father published a photograph on social media of his son, which was taken when he was a baby.
Yamal was cradled by then-Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi. He wrote on social media: “Two beginnings of two legends. It now appears amazingly prescient.”
The Argentina superstar was 20 at the time and had taken part in a promotional campaign for FC Barcelona for UNICEF. Yamal was only five months old when his parents entered him into a raffle and he was paired up with Messi. Yamal’s smiles won over a nervous Messi at the photoshoot.
Statistically, Yamal is ahead of Messi for a 17-year-old player, according to football writer Ryan O’Hanlon of ESPN.
“Broadly, this is the conclusion: [Michael] Owen, Kylian Mbappe and Yamal are the best teenagers in modern soccer history,” he wrote, basing these assertions on the number of goals and assists.
This photo, taken in September 2007, shows a 20-year-old Barcelona star Lionel Messi cradling Lamine Yamal, who was merely six months old at the time, during a photo session at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain [File: Joan Monfort/AP]
‘304’ celebration
Rocafonda might have been forgotten, like many other fringe, outer-suburban Barcelona neighbourhoods, were it not for Yamal himself.
On the walls, someone has painted the number 304. It might just be graffiti, except for one thing. When Yamal scored a wonder goal against France in the Euro 2024 last year, he celebrated by making the sign three, zero, four with his fingers. It was a reference to the postcode of Rocafonda, which in full reads 08304.
As the world was transfixed by Yamal’s dazzling skills, it was a sign that even when footballers can expect seven- or even eight-figure salaries, some have not forgotten their roots.
At the Bar Familia L Y 304 Rocafonda, run by the player’s uncle, Abdul, you are left in no doubt that Yamal remains faithful to where he came from.
Decked out in photographs of Yamal and signed shirts, in one corner is a tiny, plastic version of the World Cup. It begs the thought: might Yamal one day lift the real thing for Spain?
The walls of Bar Familia L Y 304 Rocafonda, run by Yamal’s uncle, are littered with sporting memorabilia of the town’s most famous footballer [Courtesy of Joan Mateu]
Family is everything
The player’s own story starts 30 years ago when his maternal grandmother, Fatima, arrived from Morocco and took up a job in an old people’s residence.
She worked to bring her seven children over from Morocco and managed as a single mother.
Yamal’s mother, Sheila Ebana, is from Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish colony in Western Africa. The player’s parents divorced, and when she moved away from Rocafonda, she enrolled him in Club de Futbol La Torreta in Granollers, a nearby town.
Yamal speaks fondly about his mother, who gave him the best childhood she could despite the difficulties she faced.
“Maybe I didn’t have the best childhood, but I didn’t see it. I only saw the beautiful, thanks to her,” he said in an Instagram interview with user tumejorjugada.
Life for both parents has changed dramatically since their son became a superstar.
Ebana now has 258,000 followers on Instagram and has moved to Barcelona. His father has also moved to the Catalan capital.
Two shots of Lamine Yamal on a photograph hanging in La Torreta football club [Courtesy of Joan Mateu]
Changing expectations
Yamal started playing for CF La Torreta, a small club with 200 players, when he was only five.
On the window of the club, there is a photograph of the player when he arrived as a small child and another more recent one.
“He came here when he was five years old and stayed just two years before Barcelona came for him,” says Jordi Vizcaino, president of CF La Torreta.
“I still can hardly believe it when I see how far he has gone, when I see Yamal playing for Barca and Spain. He was just a kid when he came here and is still just a kid really.”
Rocio Escandell, president of the Association of Rocafonda Neighbours, has known Yamal and his family all his life.
“Lamine has put Rocafonda on the world map. It is a working-class area with lots of migrants, but he has made people here believe they can be something. It does not have to be a footballer. It might be a doctor. Just to believe,” she told Al Jazeera.
Her nine-year-old daughter, Abril, is proof of how Yamal has changed expectations.
“I have been playing football since I was small, and I score more and more goals. When I am older, I want to be like Lamine,” says Abril.
Yamal flashes his ‘304’ gesture after scoring a goal for Barcelona at the Olympic Stadium on May 18, 2025, in Barcelona, Spain [Judit Cartiel/Getty Images]
