FC Barcelona has produced some of the greatest generational talents of their respective eras, and it seems that the Catalan club does not intend on putting a halt to that proud tradition any time soon in the years to come. Their most recent success can be defined as nothing short of miraculous given its quality alongside its age.
16-year-old Lamine Yamal is the name that has rung quite loudly across Europe in recent weeks. The La Masia product has shown immense talent, elite decision-making, and great presence on the field despite only having turned 16 this summer.
However, his accomplishments have now evolved beyond simply at the club level. His recent debut with the Spanish National team against Georgia in their latest European qualifier enabled the young 16-year-old to break multiple records with a singular appearance.
As highlighted by Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, Lamine Yamal became the youngest ever debutant in Spanish history for the National team courtesy of his debut, breaking the previous record held by Barcelona teammate Pablo Gavi, who himself was 17 years and 62 days old when he made his first official appearance for the Spanish National team.
Moreover, by scoring a goal in the 74th minute of the game against Georgia in Spain’s 7-1 victory, Lamine Yamal not just added the final goal to Spain’s 7-goal riot but also ended up becoming the youngest goal scorer in the Spanish National team history, coincidentally breaking yet another record previously held by Gavi, who scored his first goal for Spain at 17 years and 304 days old.
Lastly, courtesy of his goal, Lamine Yamal is now also officially the youngest-ever goal scorer in European Qualifiers history across the continent and takes away a continental record beyond just his national ones as well.
It was already within the plans of Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente to play Yamal in this recent clash against Georgia, but his inclusion ended up coming much earlier than expected in the game as both Marco Asensio and Dani Olmo ended up coming off in the 44th minute due to injury concerns with Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams taking their place.
The Barcelona star is next expected to be present with the Spanish National team for the upcoming clash against Cyprus for yet another European Qualifying match that could maybe even see the 16-year-old start the game against the worst team at the moment statistically in their 5-team group for the Qualifiers.
In the scenario that he ends up starting as a reward of sorts from de la Fuente for his commendable performance against Georgia, the 16-year-old Barcelona product could go on to potentially break even more notable records.