Lamine Yamal's 18th birthday: Barcelona, Spain star's meteoric rise in 18 key moments

Most footballers have not even made their professional debut by the time they turn 18. Lamine Yamal is not most footballers.

The Barcelona and Spain forward celebrates turning 18 on Sunday with the world at his feet. His short career has already earned winners' medals in the European Championship and LaLiga filled with highlight reels of tricks, assists and goals that have registered millions of views worldwide.

Off the pitch, he has demonstrated a confidence rarely seen in teenagers taking their first steps in the game, challenging opponents on social media and unafraid of making bold statements that could come back to haunt him.

So far, it has all been backed up with success for club and country. After becoming a European champion with Spain a year ago, he then led Barcelona to a domestic treble last season as well as a first Champions League semifinal since 2019.

Not even Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo were so prodigious before turning 18. That does not mean Yamal will better their careers -- or even match them -- but if he continues to develop and improve at the current rate, it's impossible to predict what his ceiling will be.

Now, as he already moves from talented teenager to global superstar, he has the challenge of keeping his feet on the ground and not rising to the distractions that he might encounter.

So far, he has remained unfazed by everything thrown at him and as he turns 18, we take you through 18 key moments that have shaped his career to this point.

1. Blessed by Messi

Perhaps Yamal was always destined for greatness. In a wild twist of fate, as a baby he was paired with a teenage Lionel Messi for a charity calendar organized by Barcelona and UNICEF in 2007. Each month would feature a player with a child from Catalonia, chosen by a draw.

In the photograph for January, Messi, in the early stages of his Barça career, bathes a 5-month-old Yamal while the baby's mother is watching. The barely believable photo surfaced last summer when a 16-year-old Yamal was lighting up Euro 2024 in Germany.

"I didn't before, but now I believe in destiny," the photographer, Joan Monfort, told ESPN.

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How fate led to a photograph capturing 'the beginning of two legends'

Meet photographer Joan Monfort, who in 2007 captured Barcelona's young star Lionel Messi posing with a baby Lamine Yamal for a charity calendar.

2. Repping the 304

Every time Yamal scores, he celebrates by signaling the number 304. They are the final three digits of the postal code for Rocafonda, the neighborhood of Mataró where he grew up, 20 miles north of Barcelona.

Head to the area and you will find 304 graffitied on buildings and bins. That has always been true, but what is also true now is that there is another message increasingly present: "More Lamine Yamals, fewer evictions."

The Barça teenager is not only shining the spotlight on his hometown -- previously more known for its high level of immigration and the risk of poverty those living there face -- he's holding up a mirror for the next generation to push beyond their limits.

3. Flying the flags for family

The flags of Morocco and Equatorial Guinea as well as Spain's have appeared on Yamal's boots frequently since his Barça debut. His father, Mounir, is from Morocco and his mother, Sheila, is from Equatorial Guinea, and though he has always represented Spain at international level, he has never ignored his origins.

Yamal is also especially close to his cousin, Mohamed, who acts as his chauffeur and rarely leaves his side, and his paternal grandmother, Fátima, who still lives in Rocafonda. He credits his parents with keeping him grounded and says the sacrifices that come with his fame are worth it for his family.

"To see the peace of mind my mum and dad have, it's something I could never have imagined," he told ESPN earlier this year. "My grandma calling me and telling me how well she's doing. It's priceless. I would not change it for anything."

4. Barça take a gamble

All it took for Barça to sign Yamal from C.F. La Torreta in 2014 was a promise to send a youth team to take part in a local tournament. Barça's director of football at the time, Jordi Roura, had received a glowing report from a scout in Mataró. Yamal was invited for a trial and Roura, in very understated fashion, told ESPN in 2023 that "we decided it was worth taking a bet on him."

5. First-team debut (vs. Real Betis, April 29, 2023)

An unintended quirk of Yamal's Barça debut was that the electronic board held up to announce his first-team bow as a 15-year-old displayed the numbers 304 in order: '30:41' (No. 30 for Gavi, the outgoing player, and No. 41 for Yamal.)

Yamal's debut was the result of him racing through the club's academy at La Masia as part of the talented 2007 generation, which also includes fellow Barça first-teamers Pau Cubarsí and Marc Bernal. He scored 357 goals in 249 official games for the club's youth teams, astounding teammates as he jumped through the age groups.

"He came up for a match with the 2006 generation," United States and Barça goalkeeper Diego Kochen told ESPN this year. "There was a 50/50 ball from the half field, volley, straight into the goal. I couldn't believe it."

By the time Yamal was 15 years, 9 months old, Xavi Hernández, Barça coach at the time, had seen enough. It was time. With 83:48 on the match clock in a LaLiga game against Real Betis on April 29, 2023, Yamal was introduced for what was, until now, his only senior appearance at Camp Nou, as renovation work began on the stadium shortly afterward.

6. Record man for club and country

After becoming the youngest player to represent Barça in LaLiga against Betis, Yamal embarked on a streak of breaking record after record for his precocity. He is the youngest player to score in LaLiga; to make their Spain debut; to score for Spain; to score at a European Championship; to play in a Euro final; to score against Real Madrid in a Clásico; to reach 100 Barça appearances; to score in a Champions League semifinal ... You get the point.

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Are Yamal and Doué the next Messi and Ronaldo?

Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens debate whether comparisons between Lamine Yamal and Désiré Doué with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are "premature".

7. Messi comparisons

When Yamal made his Barça debut, the competition for a right-wing berth came from Raphinha and Ousmane Dembélé. By the start of his first full season, following Dembelé's move to Paris Saint-Germain and Raphinha's red card against Getafe, Xavi was prepared to hand him the right flank.

Yamal's consistency made it impossible to drop him, and given the fact he played from the right with his wand of a left foot, the Messi comparisons followed. His importance to the team grew, finishing the campaign with seven goals and nine assists from 50 appearances. By the end of the season even Xavi struggled to fend off the Messi similarities. He finally relented after Yamal's goal earned a 1-0 win over Mallorca in March 2024, when he acknowledged: "There are flashes."

Mallorca coach Javier Aguirre had a slightly more amusing take on the comparisons. "I first saw Messi when he was with Barça's youth team and he was like a rat, fizzing around and scoring goal after goal," he said. "[Yamal] has the look of a rat as well, the rascal."

8. That France goal

Yamal truly announced himself to the world with a stunning strike in Spain's Euro 2024 semifinal win over France. The goal itself was brilliant, and typical Yamal, coming inside on to his left foot to bend the ball into the top corner, but it was also dripping in narrative.

Before the game, France midfielder Adrien Rabiot had said Yamal still needed to do more to prove himself. Yamal responded before the match by posting on Instagram: "Move in silence. Only speak when it's time to say checkmate."

At full time, after knocking Rabiot and France out of the competition, Yamal said "speak now" to the cameras, followed by a simple message on social media: "Checkmate." This was a 16-year-old showing ridiculous levels of talent, character and fearlessness for his age.

9. Becoming a European champion

Yamal will never forget the summer of 2024. In Germany, as he studied for his high school exams, he was also plotting to conquer Europe. Along with Nico Williams, his wing play was one of the symbols of Spain's success as they beat England 2-1 in the final on the day after his 17th birthday.

The Barça winger delivered when it mattered, either creating or scoring a goal in every knockout match: assisting Fabián Ruiz against Georgia and Dani Olmo against Germany, scoring against France, and setting up Williams in the final.

Yamal ended the Euros with a tournament-high four assists, the Young Player of the Tournament award, a place in the Team of the Tournament and, most importantly, as a European champion.

10. New skill unlocked

"I think the button on FIFA on the [PlayStation] is L2," Yamal told reporters when asked about his trivela -- a pass with the outside of the boot -- to assist Raphinha's goal against Mallorca last December.

It's a pass that existed before Yamal, but one that has become a bigger part of his armory as he has taken his game to new levels since Euro 2024 under Barça coach Hansi Flick. The brilliant trivela assist against Mallorca was just one of many he produced last season. There was also an absurd, 40-yard trivela pass for Raphinha to score against Villarreal and a more subtle version for Olmo against Espanyol.

In fact, but for some sloppy finishing from Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski in other games, Yamal might have ended the campaign with more trivela assists than most players registered in total.

11. Awards season

His exploits for Barcelona and Spain have marked him as the biggest young talent in the game. As a result, his individual honors are already stacking up. Yamal is the current holder of the Golden Boy prize and the Kopa Trophy -- prestigious awards given to the best male player under the age of 21 -- and ranked as high as eighth in the Ballon d'Or last year.

12. Building the brand

When Yamal stepped onto the pitch for a 4-0 Clásico win in Madrid in October, he did so wearing custom Barça braces on his teeth. It's one of the examples of how he has harnessed brands and social media -- the braces were accompanied by a stream of online content -- in a way that makes him stand out almost as much as he does on the pitch.

As brands rush to work with him, from Adidas to Beats, superstars want to be associated with him. Travis Scott became the latest musician to appear on Barça's shirt this year as part of the club's sponsorship deal with Spotify; Yamal has since become one of only 105 people followed on Instagram by rapper Scott, who doesn't follow anyone else linked to Barça, or even the club.

But it's the naturalness of Yamal's content that makes it different to the usual postmatch platitudes shared by most players. He engages with fans (occasionally even using fan art as his profile picture), hypes up games in creative ways (as seen with the Rabiot clash) and embraces viral moments, as was the case last month when he told a group of girls wanting a photograph taken that his name was Ryan ... something he has played on since.

17-YEAR-OLD LAMINE YAMAL JUST COOKED ON HIS 100TH BARCA APPEARANCE 🤯 pic.twitter.com/dhWmTDr10O

13. Champions League classic

Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi was flabbergasted. "This is a talent which comes along once every 50 years," he said after seeing a Yamal-inspired Barça fight back from 2-0 down to draw 3-3 in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal between the two sides in April.

If the goal against France announced Yamal to a global football audience, his performance against Inter took him to the next level. At times almost singlehandedly, he dragged Barça back into the match, scoring a ridiculous goal to kickstart the comeback. After dribbling into the box, he somehow created space to shoot through a mass of bodies, the ball clipping off the post on its way in.

Barça eventually lost a ridiculous tie 7-6 on aggregate, but Yamal's reputation was enhanced again.

14. Royal approval

King Felipe VI of Spain is already familiar with Yamal. The first time they met, during the Euros last summer, the king could not believe it when Yamal told him he was only 16. He had a better idea of what to expect when he greeted Yamal, who was wearing two pairs of sunglasses, after Barça beat Madrid to win the Copa del Rey final a year later at La Cartuja in Seville.

It was the start of a period in which Yamal staked his claim as Barça's leader, despite strong seasons from Pedri, Raphinha and Lewandowski. It included that Inter tie but also a wild 4-3 Clásico win when Yamal scored another outstanding goal and a 2-0 derby victory over Espanyol, when he scored the vital opener with an effort similar to his one against France, as Flick's side clinched the LaLiga title.

15. New contract, new number

After all that, how could Barça not give him a new contract? Yamal scored 18 goals and provided 25 assists in 55 appearances as a 17-year-old in 2024-25. He appeared in nearly all the big moments as Barça won LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Supercopa.

He then signed a new deal, negotiated by the superagent Jorge Mendes, until 2031. A new shirt number followed: No. 19 has been swapped for No. 10.

It's a no-brainer from Barça's point of view given how many "Yamal" jerseys are already present on a matchday and around the city. The iconic No. 10, previously worn by Messi, will give shirt sales another boost and cement their new star's iconic status.

16. Ballon d'Or claim

"Yamal made a statement tonight and shown that he should win the Ballon d'Or," Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said after a 5-4 UEFA Nations League semifinal win against France in June.

Spain went on to lose in the final to Portugal, but the case had been made for Yamal to win the Ballon d'Or, the award that crowns the best player in the game. One of his main rivals to win it is PSG and France's Dembelé, and the prematch focus had been on it being a chance for one of them to stake their claim to win the prize.

"If they want us to play for it on Thursday, then let's play," Yamal had said before the match.

The Ballon d'Or might not arrive this year, but it already feels a case of when not if he does win it.

17. Holiday with a hero

The Messi comparisons are inescapable, but Yamal has actually always had a bigger soft spot for another former Barça star: Neymar. You can see that in the way he plays, the tricks and the daring nature, but also in the way he has already mimicked the Brazilian. There have been recreations of Neymar's goal celebrations, he dyed his hair blond before the Copa del Rey final (as Neymar has done several times) and then, this summer, spent his holiday time in Brazil with his "idol."

The pair enjoyed a few days together at Neymar's house in Río de Janeiro, playing foot-volley, relaxing by the swimming pool and exchanging shirts.

18. Outperforming other prodigies

There have been a lot of good teenagers in the history of football, yet rarely have we seen anyone do what Yamal has done before turning 18. He has made 127 appearances for club and country, scoring 25 goals and winning an array of team and individual trophies. Even Neymar, breaking out with Santos in Brazil, had scored only 19 times before his 18th birthday. Erling Haaland (12), Kylian Mbappé (7), Cristiano Ronaldo (5) and Messi (1) were nowhere near Yamal's numbers. That's perhaps to be expected given the Barça star has already made more appearances before age 18 than Neymar, Haaland, Mbappé, Ronaldo and Messi made combined at the same age.

That does not mean that Yamal will go on to better all of them. Football is also full of precocious talents who have faded away for a range of different reasons, whether it's injuries, dealing with the increased expectations or the simple fact that players can peak at different ages.

As for the short term, Yamal has some very clear goals: win a Champions League with Barça and a FIFA World Cup with Spain. Both of those could happen in 2026. If they do, he can claim to have "completed" football by age 19.

That said, a year is a long time in football. Especially when it's over 5% of your entire life.