Forget Ødegaard. Forget Haaland. As a talent, Lamine Yamal is up there among the very greatest. The Spanish jewel is too young to drink, vote and drive. In the EC, he has homework from school with him. But the 16-year-old is playing havoc for Spain, the EC’s best team, and is a star at Barcelona, one of the world’s biggest clubs. At the same age, Erling Braut Haaland had just arrived at Molde, while Martin Ødegaard played for Real Madrid’s B team at level three in Spain. Yamal is the EC’s youngest by a clear margin. Have we seen a greater talent? Youngest players in EC history: 16 years, 11 months – Lamine Yamal, Spain, EC in 2024 17 years, 8 months – Kacper Kozłowski, Poland, EC in 2021 17 years, 11 months – Jude Bellingham, England, EC in 2021 18 years, 2 months – Jetro Willems, Netherlands, EC in 2012 18 years, 3 months – Enzo Scifo, Belgium, EC in 1984 Source: Uefa – Maradona, Messi, and now Yamal, says German legend Lothar Matthäus. We can’t compare Yamal to every talent, and no one knows how many promising players have withered away. So let’s take the four names considered the greatest of all time: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona and Pelé. Yamal is actually ahead of several of them. Debut on the club’s A team (in an official match) 15 years, 9 months – Yamal15 years, 10 months – Pelé15 years, 11 months – Maradona17 years, 3 months – Messi17 years, 6 months – Ronaldo Sorry, Leo and Cristiano! It’s too late here. Yamal is from La Masia, the famous academy of Barcelona where Lionel Messi learned his tricks. But Yamal got his chance on the A team in an official match two years before Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo was still in Sporting’s B team. Here, only Maradona and Pelé can take up the fight with Yamal. BARCELONA DEBUT: 15-year-old and nine-month-old Lamine Yamal is substituted for his first Barcelona game against Real Betis in April 2023. Photo: ALBERT GEA / Reuters Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors in the Argentine top flight in 1976, when he was already famous for their trick shows during the breaks. When the 15-year-old ran out onto the grass, the crowd gave him a warm Oléééééé. With his first touch, Maradona hit a tunnel, just to confirm that he was special. Pelé was the same age when he made his debut for the Brazilian giants Santos, and of course he scored. The man he scored on, Zaluar, later printed business cards that said: “I am the goalkeeper who conceded Pele’s first goal”. Debut for the national team’s A-team 16 years, 1 month – Yamal16 years, 3 months – Maradona16 years, 8 months – Pelé18 years, 1 month – Messi18 years, 6 months – Ronaldo It’s finally a bit even here. Yamal made his debut in Norway’s qualifying group against Georgia last September … and scored. When kids are thrust into the footballing limelight, it’s often wise to play down the hype around them, but that message hasn’t reached Spain’s coach, Luis de la Fuente, who says Yamal has been “touched by God”. SPAIN DEBUT: Lamine Yamal in action in his first Spain match, against Georgia in the European Championship qualifiers on 8 September 2023. Photo: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP Again, Ronaldo and Messi are far behind Yamal. Messi was 18 when he made his debut for the A team in a friendly match against Hungary in 2005 – and received a red card after 40 seconds for an elbow. Nobody remembers Maradona for his first appearance, but Pelé scored against Argentina in his first A-team game in 1957. It’s not easy to catch Pelé on anything. First full season on the A-team 16 years, 1 month – Yamal16 years, 3 months – Pelé16 years, 3 months – Maradona17 years, 6 months – Ronaldo18 years, 1 month – Messi It is said that teams should introduce youngsters to the A-team a little after a while, so they don’t get burnt out and overwhelmed. Barcelona used Yamal in 50 games last season. RONALDO MARKED HIMSELF: The 2002/03 season was Cristiano Ronaldo’s (th) first full season for Sporting’s A team, here as an 18-year-old in the last league round against Porto. Photo: PAULO DUARTE / AP It is difficult to remember anything similar in a major European team. Ronaldo had turned 17 when he got a significant role for Sporting’s A team. His breakthrough came against Manchester United in a friendly in 2003, when he stunned the defenders with a series of overstepping feints. United’s players asked coach Alex Ferguson to buy Ronaldo, perhaps so they didn’t have to face him again. Messi was 18 when he got to play 17 league games for Barcelona in 2005–06. And then he rose like a comet. MESSI BREAKTHROUGH: 18-year-old Lionel Messi in action against Chelsea’s Ricardo Carvalho in the Champions League in March 2006. Photo: MANU FERNANDEZ / AP Maradona was an instant fixture at Argentinos, and was 17 when he was shared top scorer in the top division. This was a feat, because in the 70s, Argentine teams had enough money to keep their stars, and the level of the league was high. When the national team won the World Cup in 1978, only striker Mario Kempes played abroad. The same is true of Brazil’s leagues in the 50s. There, Pelé became the top scorer in his first season, with 41 goals in 38 games in all competitions. The secret? Judo, karate, and that Pelé “ate like a horse”. First international championship 16 years, 11 months – Yamal17 years, 7 months – Pelé18 years, 9 months – Maradona18 years, 11 months – Messi19 years, 4 months – Ronaldo Many talents are remembered for their international breakthroughs. Ahead of Spain’s quarter-final against Germany, Yamal has started three EC matches and showcased his slick feints and sensitive crosses. None of the other four showed up so early. Ronaldo made the team of the tournament at the 2004 European Championship, when Portugal lost the final. But then he was 19 years old. Messi turned 19 during the 2006 World Cup, when he was Argentina’s lively substitute. He sat on the bench when they crashed out of the quarter-finals against Germany, and many thought he should have played more. ARGENTINA-BENCH STRIKES: Lionel Messi blows a bubble gum during the football World Cup in Germany in 2006. Photo: DANIEL GARCIA / AFP Maradona could have played in the World Cup in 1978, but was scrapped because he was too young. He cried, cursed and consoled himself with pizza until five in the morning. Instead, he played in the 1979 South American Championship, when Argentina came last in the group. Again, no one can keep up with Pelé. Pelé was 17 when he played at the World Cup in Sweden in 1958, but he delivered more than Yamal can dream of in Germany. Pelé scored against Wales in the quarter-finals, followed up with a hat trick against France in the semi-finals, and crowned the feat with two more goals in the final against Sweden. THE FIRST PELÉ GOLD: 17-year-old Pelé after the World Cup gold in Stockholm in 1958. Photo: AP When Brazil had won 5–2, Pelé fainted. He woke up, cried and lifted Brazil’s first World Cup trophy. The next day, the French magazine Paris Match wrote that football had gained a new king. A lot can go wrong So is Yamal the greatest football talent we’ve seen? Not completely. Pelé and Maradona were probably better. Yamal is definitely ahead of Ronaldo and Messi in the race, but then one also wonders how much this means at the age of 16. Talents develop in different ways. Yamal has an unusually high technical level, but Messi was quicker, Ronaldo had an unparalleled professionalism, Pelé was more complete, and Maradona had his own ability to decide matches on his own. THE HERO OF THE PEOPLE: Many supporters turned up at the airport to get an autograph from Diego Maradona. He was on his way to his new club Napoli on this summer day in 1984. Photo: Bruno Mosconi / AP A lot can go wrong when you are so young. In Barcelona alone, several talents have fallen through in recent years, such as Bojan and Ansu Fati. The most famous example in football is American Freddy Adu, who signed a professional contract with DC United when he was 14, before stagnating and ending up in Finnish football. FALL THROUGH: 14-year-old Freddy Adu at the press conference in November 2003 where it was announced that he had signed a professional contract with DC United. Photo: TINA FINEBERG / AP Talents can be damaged. They may lose their hunger. They can get bad advice. They can play too much, which many believe has happened with Pedri, another Barcelona jewel, who played 73 games in 2020-21 and has struggled with muscle injuries since. So it’s hard to predict how good Yamal will be. But one thing is clear: In Europe we have hardly seen the equivalent of talent. Even if Yamal doesn’t get any better, he’ll still be a star. Published 05.07.2024, at 16.28 Updated 05.07.2024, at 16.36
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Is Lamine Yamal (16) the greatest football talent we have seen? – Football European Championship 2024
