Spain’s Lamine Yamal is building an impressive résumé with individual and team awards at just 18 years old, and now he’s competing on soccer’s biggest stage at the 2026 World Cup. The best part? Yamal is set to go head-to-head with the 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal in the round of 16.
Here’s a closer look at the two stars ahead of their Monday matchup:
(Photo by Wang Kaiyan/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Yamal made his first appearance for Spain at age 16 and quickly made an impact. He became the youngest player to score for and represent Spain, and led the squad to a 2024 Euro Championship title. Yamal was awarded Young Player of the Tournament after their win over England.
On top of those records, Yamal’s one goal and four assists made him the youngest player to record an assist in a major tournament and tied for most assists in a single Euro tournament.
After Spain’s historic Euro win, Yamal and Barcelona went on to win the 2024-25 La Liga championship, where he led the league in assists with 13. This season, Yamal recorded another league-high assist number with 11, a second consecutive La Liga championship and became the youngest recipient of the La Liga Player of the Year award.
In his first-ever World Cup – recording one goal in four starts – Yamal is seeking his first title and Spain’s first since 2010.
