Can Yamal Emulate Pele And Mbappe

New Delhi: The game is at a crucial juncture, Lamine Yamal receives the ball on the right and cuts inside. What happens next is perhaps the greatest nod to his genius (and maturity) and it usually has the crowd sitting on the edge of their seats.

That’s because the 18-year-old can do most of things expected of a wide player. And then some. He has the tenacity and audacity to dribble past multiple players and find the perfect pass for a teammate. He also has an eye for goal and a left foot that is a gift from the gods — so he can send a curler into the far corner or slam one in through the crowd in front of goal. Then again, he sometimes displays the maturity one normally doesn’t associate with youth and plays the simple pass back to the centre or to a defender. He chooses the right option so often that one can’t help but be awestruck by his thoughts.

How does he do what he does? Why does he do it? What drives him? If Euro 2024 was the trailer (4 assists, 1 goal – a wonderful strike against France in the semi-final – named Young Player of the Tournament), then expect the 2026 World Cup to be the moment he takes centrestage.

There was an injury cloud over his World Cup campaign but Spain coach Luis de la Fuente now believes that the Barcelona star, who was recently named La Liga Player of the Season (ahead of Kylian Mbappe), should be fit for Spain’s opener against Cape Verde on June 15.

The Barcelona winger helped his team retain their domestic league ⁠crown, became the first player to win La Liga’s Player of the Month award three ⁠times in one season and finished as the club’s top scorer in La Liga with 16 goals and 11 assists despite playing only 28 of the 38 matches because of early season pubalgia issues and a left hamstring injury.

It was a statement year in every sense and even his opponents took notice.

Brazil and Real Madrid striker Vini Jr said it in as many words to CazeTV: “Spain are among favourites at the World Cup, because they won the last Euros, they have a team that has played together for a long time and they have Lamine Yamal, who is one of the best players in the world, and always does amazing things on the pitch. So he is a player who can win the World Cup on his own.

“Talking about a Barcelona player is always complicated because fans start talking and gossiping but we have to appreciate the players we have on the pitch. Everyone pays for a ticket to watch the best players and Lamine is one of those players that fans pay to see.”

The ‘pay to see’ categorisation is key. Each of the 1248 players at the World Cup will be top quality. They have all spent years honing their craft but even in that crowd some stand out. Over the years, this is perhaps the marker of greatness. They have something that the others simply do not.

From Pele, Garrincha to Lionel Messi, the ability to sometimes make opponents look silly is the differentiator and Yamal belongs to the same school. On the pitch, the eyes tend to follow them. They make things happen; things that most others would consider unfathomable.

Perhaps something was passed onto to Yamal when he took that photo with Messi in December 2007. Messi, only 20 at the time, was on his way up, his genius clear to everyone. Yamal, just six months old with cheeks that drooped. They came together for a shoot that also had a rubber duck for company in a bathtub.

Destiny can sometimes create such magic moments. The picture was discovered in 2024 when Messi and Yamal were lighting up the Euro and Copa America

With every passing game, Yamal seems to prove those words true.

Addressing the immense public anticipation surrounding his teenage forward, De la Fuente stated during RTVE and EFE’s ‘Los Desayunos’ programme: “He’s incredibly excited. He’s incredibly eager. He’s very young but very mature. And he knows this is his moment. And in life, you have to seize your opportunities.

“You never know how you’ll be at the next World Cup. And this is Lamine Yamal’s moment. He’s very good, and he’ll only get better as his teammates help him perform at his best. In my opinion, we have the best players in the world in many positions, and that will help him perform even better.”

The others make him better but he provides his own magic touch to games. Four of Lamine’s 11 league assists were for Ferran Torres, who tied him as the top scoring Spanish player in La Liga with 16 goals.

And, at this point, it just feels the spectacular for others is normal for him. Born to a Moroccan father and an Equatoguinean mother a few kilometers from La Masia, Barcelona’s famous academy, Yamal became the youngest player ever to represent FC Barcelona’s first team, making his La Liga debut at 15 years, 9 months, and 16 days in April 2023. In September 2023, he became the youngest scorer in Spanish national team history, netting against Georgia at 16 years and 57 days. At Euro 2024, he became the youngest goalscorer in UEFA European Championship history, finding the net against France in the semi-final. All before his 17th birthday.

The joy of watching Yamal now is in seeing how high he’ll be able to rise and the World Cup will be a pretty good indicator of that. The stage has been prepared, the main actor just needs to do his thing now. Pele did it in 1958, Mbappe in 2019. Will we remember this as Yamal’s World Cup? By July 19, the world will know.