Ahead of the World Cup final, The Athletic published an article praising Yamar, who is about to play his first World Cup final. The 18-year-old winger, already a European champion, is regarded as an artistic genius in the football world.
This seemingly understated statement speaks volumes; it's an unvarnished declaration of his inner thoughts. "The key is to stay calm," he said. "When I have the ball in the penalty area, I decide what happens next." This happened in March of this year, when Yamar scored his first career hat-trick in Barcelona's match against Villarreal.
He was talking about his second goal—a miniature masterpiece, combining composure, exquisite skill, and matador-like elegance. He also offered a "secret manual," giving a glimpse into his entire playing style and even the underlying nature of his personality.
Stay calm. Absolute control. Full understanding. These aren't the only reasons Yamar is the world's best young player—and perhaps even the best in the world today—but they are absolutely key. The rest is obvious to everyone. Yamar, who just turned 19 this Monday, is not the kind of player whose talent needs to be "decoded."
His talent is on full display, flamboyant and dazzling, as vivid as a primary color. Watching his highlights on the pitch—the labyrinthine dribbling, the breathtaking passes delivered with the outside of his feet, and his increasingly sophisticated finishing skills—you will soon understand why Spain's national team coach, De la Fuente, believes this winger has been "blessed by God."
This Sunday, Yamal will step onto the World Cup final stage. It could be a coronation, or a passing of the torch, as this will almost certainly be Messi's last dance on this stage. The similarities between Yamal and Messi, not to mention their incredible shared history, will only add a historical resonance to this match.
However, Yamal is already unfazed by it all. Although still a teenager, he's used to it—the pressure, the noise, the scorching heat of the spotlight. Stay calm. Absolute control. Full understanding. Then step onto the pitch and unleash his full talent.
Former Barcelona and French national team striker Thierry Henry gave an excellent assessment in a May interview with Marca: "This kid plays football as naturally as he does in his neighborhood." Yamal grew up in Rocafonta, a working-class coastal neighborhood in Mataró. His father was a painter, and his mother was only 16 when he was born . His parents separated a few years later. Yamal grew up in a loving family, but not a wealthy one.
“When you’re young, sometimes you want things but can’t get them,” he said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País last month. “So you have to learn to accept life as it is and be grateful for everything your parents have done. Watching my mother struggle to make a living, watching her try her best to make me happy… all of this made me mature earlier.”
Yamal honed his skills on a concrete pitch near his home—a place he likes to say was the last place he felt afraid while playing football— before being scouted by Barcelona at the age of seven. At twelve, he moved into the club's renowned La Masia youth academy. Early videos of him can still be found online.
In most shots, Yamar is just an unassuming little guy. His ball control is outstanding, but equally striking is his clear mind: he understands the game, knows how it contracts and expands around him. "His best and most amazing quality is his football intelligence," former Barcelona sporting director Ramon Planes once told ESPN . "He is an all-around footballer."
Xavi, who coached Barcelona's first team from 2021 to 2024, also strongly agreed. In the 2022-23 season, he invited 15- year-old Yamal to train with the first team. "You could see something unusual and special back then," Xavi recently told The Athletic . "He could make excellent decisions and rarely made mistakes."
In April 2023 , two and a half months before his 16th birthday, Yamal made his first-team debut. This marked the beginning of a meteoric rise. In August of the same year , he made his first start for Barcelona; in September, he made his debut for the Spanish national team and scored a goal; in October , he signed a new contract with a €1 billion (approximately £ 850 million/ US$1.1 billion) release clause, and scored his first club goal a week later.
He left behind a series of shattered records: Barcelona's youngest starter, Barcelona's youngest league goalscorer, and the youngest player to appear in El Clásico. After conquering Spain, he went on to the European Championship, spreading his magic across the continent. Yamal helped his team in matches against Croatia, Georgia, and Germany.
Before the semi-final, Rabiot warned him that he needed to perform better against France. Yamal posted a Zen-like quote on social media: "Only speak when you're about to kill your opponent," and then scored a stunning goal in Spain's victory.
“I’ve never seen a performance like that in my life,” exclaimed the seasoned French legend Zinedine Zidane. De la Fuente called it “a flash of genius.” “The greater the challenge, the more Yamal steps up,” Xavi commented. It’s worth noting that they weren’t just talking about his goal.
He was equally tireless on the defensive end, tracking down French full-back Theo throughout the match. He's a performer, but also a doer, knowing he has to put in the hard work. "I value his defensive commitment, his support for his teammates, his blocking of space, and the breathing room he gave us," Spanish midfielder Rodri said after the game.
Before that, despite his excitement, Yamal was still considered a "potential star." The match against France propelled him to a new level, and the final victory over England only fueled his rise. Comparisons with Messi became commonplace, commercial endorsements poured in, and headlines and scrutiny followed.
De la Fuente made it clear that he needed protection. Yamal had spoken about being recognized on the street when he was 13, bearing the price of fame before puberty. He even brought his schoolwork with him when he went to Germany for the European Championship. By the time the tournament ended, he was already a household name. Commendably, Yamal's transition over the past two years has been relatively smooth.
Although there have been some minor setbacks, such as posting online about "the abyss within myself" and facing scrutiny of his private life, the young man has generally handled everything that has been thrown his way with composure and grace. "Honestly, I don't know if I could handle things as well as he has," Spanish left-back Cucurella said in a June interview with COPE radio.
De la Fuente echoed this sentiment. "Yamael endures brutal media pressure, yet rarely makes mistakes," he told The Guardian in a pre-World Cup interview. On the pitch, he has experienced both highs and lows . His performance in the 2024-25 Champions League semi-final against Inter Milan was so outstanding that then-Inter manager Simone Inzaghi called him a "once-in-50-years talent."
He finished second in the Ballon d'Or voting and wore the Barcelona number 10 jersey, previously worn by Messi, Ronaldinho, and Maradona . Of course, he also experienced several difficult periods, with his form and physical condition sometimes hindering his performance. Yamal did not play a match between April 22nd and Spain's first World Cup game against Cape Verde .
He started the subsequent match against Saudi Arabia but was substituted at halftime. It wasn't until the round of 16 match against Portugal that he played his first full 90 minutes in the tournament. He's more mature than the player we saw two years ago. He's also become stronger as he's grown physically. To be fair, he hasn't fully unleashed his potential this summer.
He had some flashes of brilliance and moments of genius, but lacked sustained highs. This isn't to say he played poorly, or that his mere presence wasn't enough to intimidate opponents. It's just that the expectations placed on Yamar by the outside world are simply too high. He himself seems to be aware of this.
“Little by little, I feel myself getting back into shape; my positioning and dribbling are smoother,” he told reporters after defeating Austria in the round of 32. He seemed to be hitting his stride in the quarterfinals against Belgium and the semifinals against France. But a lingering concern remains, exacerbated by his absence from training on Thursday. To shine in the final, he may need to grit his teeth and persevere.
The relentless news cycle in the football world has a peculiar way of "normalizing" things, and it happens incredibly fast. One minute we're trying to replace three substitutions with five; the next minute, it's no longer even a topic of conversation. Yamal is 19. He's still young, but he's no longer in that "outrageously young" stage.
He's been a professional footballer for four years. The initial excitement has faded somewhat. You could even say he's entered the middle of his career, which is both incredibly unfair to him and proof of his rapid rise. The statistics speak for themselves. Yamal has 32 national team appearances, almost double that of Pelé—the pinnacle of youth football—at the same age. Maradona had 12 , Messi 10. Cristiano Ronaldo has only made two appearances for Portugal .
Pelé and Maradona lived in different eras—the club football schedules in Brazil and Argentina are not aligned with the realities of modern Europe. However, compared to Ronaldo and Messi, Yamal's number of appearances for Barcelona is staggering. Given this, it's not surprising that his goal tally far surpasses that of Messi and Ronaldo at the same age.
These data also contain a warning. Yamal has proven that we no longer need to worry about him becoming a "prodigy who failed to live up to his potential," but he may still fall into another related category: those players who show early promise, maintain a high level for a decade, but also decline early—the physical and mental toll is heavy. Players who start playing for the senior team at 16 rarely remain competitive at 30, let alone 35 or 40.
This is a challenge Yamal must address. However, one advantage of starting early is that you can keep your "honors list" under control. He's already a European champion. This weekend, he could become the ninth teenager to win the World Cup. We're not talking about Pelé here— he was only 17 when Brazil won in 1958 , scoring six goals in that tournament , and by Yamal's age, he already has 22 international goals—but if Spain does beat Argentina, his resume will be quite impressive.
De la Fuente dislikes comparing Yamal to Messi. "We have to let him go his own way," the Spanish coach said ahead of the match against Saudi Arabia. However, he did categorize Yamal as "a genius, like Dalí or Michelangelo." "They are different," de la Fuente said. "They are still very capable in extreme environments. What we consider incredible, they take for granted."
This Sunday, Yamal will step onto the pitch in New Jersey. His hair will be secured with a headband bearing the old zip code of his hometown, Mataró. He will remain calm. He will be in absolute control. He knows it perfectly well. Then, under the gaze of the world, he will attempt to create another masterpiece.
