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At 19, Lamine Yamal is just two wins from ‘completing football’
At 19, some people choose to go to university, some travel the world and others settle into the workforce. For Lamine Yamal, he is trying to ‘complete football’.
Some of the best to ever play the game, who toiled for well over a decade have not achieved what he has already. The term ‘completing football’ refers to winning a World Cup, the UEFA Champions League, the Ballon d’Or and an international continental championship. Few have done it all.
Yamal celebrates winning the World Cup AP Photo/Ashley Landis
The likes of Diego Maradona and Pele retired without winning a Ballon d’Or, although they were never eligible. Until 1995 the award was restricted to European players only. Then there is Cristiano Ronaldo, who has never come close to lifting the World Cup trophy.
Ronaldo will leave the sport some day in the near future without that title after making clear that the 2026 World Cup would be his last time at the tournament.
While that Portuguese failure will not tarnish his career, it does add some weight to the case that Argentina’s superstar Lionel Messi has eclipsed him when debating who the greatest football of all time is.
Messi is among the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho as players who have ‘completed football’. Rodri joined the list on Monday after Spain’s World Cup win.
Yamal is now one step closer to joining his 30-year-old teammate on that list.
At 16, Yamal ticked off winning an intercontinental title when he and Spain won the Euros - an event where he was named player of the tournament.
One year later, he completed the domestic treble with FC Barcelona and became the youngest player to ever be nominated for the Ballon d’Or.
At 18, he finished runner-up for the Ballon d’Or and came within reach of qualifying for the Champions League final. Now, he is a world champion.
Yamal did fall short of winning the World Cup’s Young Player Award to teenage teammate Pau Cubarsi, an achievement that experts agreed was well deserved for Spain’s 19-year-old defender.
He probably needed to do a little more in the knockout stages if he wanted to pip his club and international teammate for that title.
But thanks to helping his team win the trophy at the World Cup, Yamal has become one of the leading contenders to win the Ballon d’Or - arguably the most prestigious individual accolade in world football, which is voted on by an international jury of sports journalists - that will be awarded in October.
Yamal made his debut for Spain during a Euros qualifier in 2023. AP
Messi is the favourite to take home the award for a record ninth time, while England captain Harry Kane is another top contender.
Still, even without the Champions League and Ballon d’Or trophies, some experts believe Yamal has already done enough to stand with the titans of the game.
“Not only did Lamine Yamal not react. He stood up to it. He was not rattled and he did not back down. He had the entire Argentinian team trying to smash him,” England great Joe Hart said on the BBC of Yamal’s World Cup final performance.
“He just stayed real cool. It was real standout performance from him.
“He’s 19 and has completed football.”
Spanish manager Luis de la Fuente also had a glowing rap for his teen star.
“He has played great football that will help him to mature and be even a greater footballer than he already is,” he said.
“He really sacrificed for the collective good. This is very important in my squad. In my opinion he played a great World Cup.”
Once the World Cup celebrations come to an end over the coming days, Yamal will return and place his focus back into the new La Liga season with Barcelona.
The club is scheduled to play pre-season friendlies against CE Europa, Birmingham, Nottingham Forest and Udinese Calcio over the next fornight.
The La Liga season will then kick off on August 24 for Barcelona.
