Lamine Yamal Dreams Of World Cup Glory — “I Think About It Every Day”
Lamine Yamal's rapid rise puts him on the World Cup stage at a young age. The Barca winger wants to turn childhood dreams into Spain's second title.
At 18, Lamine Yamal goes from school football to the World Cup stage. Injured but selected, Spain's EURO 2024 star dreams of Jules Rimet glory...
Just four years after playing school football, Lamine Yamal is now chasing global stardom at the World Cup.
Spain’s hopes at the World Cup lean heavily on Lamine Yamal. Even with doubts after his latest hamstring injury, the Barcelona winger wants to light up his third major tournament following the Euros and Nations League.
He told RFEF: “Finally, the moment has come. I think ever since the Euros ended, we were all thinking about this day and we're all really excited. We're coming in as the team we are, as European champions, and we're going all out.”
Yamal hasn’t played since April due to a hamstring issue picked up at Barcelona, and there were real concerns he’d miss the World Cup.
Luis de la Fuente naming him in the squad eased those fears, but Yamal admitted the tournament was on his mind the moment he got injured.
He added: “I remember the sequence when I got injured. I was praying inside that it was nothing, that it was just a cramp or something minor, because I felt the World Cup was so close and I knew it was a hamstring injury, which I'd never had before, but I knew it wouldn't be a short recovery. So I was afraid it would be serious, and above all, that even if it wasn't serious, I could relapse and miss the World Cup.
“It's also true that it helps knowing you're going to play in a World Cup, so your mind feels as if you haven't played a single match all season, and I'm really eager to make my debut.”
The 18-year-old exploded onto the scene at EURO 2024, helping Spain win their first major trophy since 2012 - back when Lamine Yamal was only four. His constant standout displays for Barcelona have only turned the spotlight up, forcing him to mature fast.
He explained: “In my mind, it feels like I've been playing football for 10 years, but in reality it's been three years, and four years ago I was playing with them at the local sports centre. So, a kid who was playing with you three years ago is now going to play in a World Cup. It has to be something crazy, really crazy.”
His career has been short but incredible so far. He’s already lifted big trophies for club and country, yet the World Cup remains the dream every kid chases - and Lamine Yamal is no exception.
When asked if he’s imagined lifting the Jules Rimet trophy, he said: “A thousand times, in my room or when we won a match at the sports centre in my neighbourhood, because I think the World Cup is the biggest thing in football.”
Lamine Yamal’s rise has been so rapid he’s already built a massive following. He knows that feeling well- he grew up idolising Neymar, and now he could face his hero at this World Cup.
Asked about his fans, he said: “They're the ones I empathise with the most. In the end, when I see a little kid, I know that in his mind he's seeing his idol and he doesn't understand.
“It's not that I'm having a bad day, I think in that moment you really have to stop and take a photo because when I was little, my idol was Neymar and I would have done anything for a photo with Neymar when I was a kid, anything at all.
“If you told me to go to Russia by train, I would have gone to Russia by train for a photo with him. So yes, I really empathise with them because I know they're just thinking they're in front of their idol and they want to be like him and want a photo with him.”
Spain are in Group H with Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay - a group La Roja should navigate comfortably. The real tests come later if they want to match their 2010 World Cup triumph.
“In the end, we play against very good teams. If we play against France, I might be very important but if the team isn't doing well, we have nothing to do. So I go in with that excitement because I know we have a great team, one of the best we've ever had, and we have very important players.
“Starting with Rodri, who's a Ballon d'Or winner. (Mikel) Oyarzabal, who, for me, is top, among the best strikers at the World Cup, I think he's fantastic. And he's confident too. We have Pedri. I love watching him play. Position by position, starting with (Marc) Cucurella, who was at the Euros, he looks like a different player. We have a squad full of great players and in goal we have the three best.”
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