{"id":4694,"date":"2026-06-22T07:04:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T07:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4694"},"modified":"2026-06-22T07:04:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T07:04:05","slug":"lamine-yamal-spains-teen-superstar-makes-impact-in-first-world-cup-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4694","title":{"rendered":"Lamine Yamal, Spain\u2019s teen superstar, makes impact in first World Cup start"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Lamine Yamal, in Atlanta on Sunday, is the biggest star on Spain’s national team. (Claudia Greco\/Reuters)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

ATLANTA \u2014 Imagine, for a moment, being 18 years old again. Legally an adult but still a teenager and finding your footing in the world, vacillating between feeling invincible and feeling minuscule. You might even still be wearing braces.<\/p>

Read more The U.S. Open crowd rooted openly against Wyndham Clark. He won anyway.<\/a><\/p>\n

Now imagine that when you step onto the soccer field, your shoulders carry the weight of a country\u2019s hopes.<\/p>\n

Lamine Yamal, Spain\u2019s teenage soccer supernova, doesn\u2019t blink at that pressure. He is the biggest star on the Spanish team, the player the country turns to when it needs a moment of brilliance, and he wears it with a combination of confidence and joy.<\/p>\n

Yamal was in the starting 11 for Spain\u2019s World Cup group-stage match against Saudi Arabia on Sunday, a 4-0 win that Yamal kick-started with a goal in the 10th minute.<\/p>\n

He made his senior international debut for Spain in 2023, at 16, and is the first player in soccer history to start at both the World Cup and the UEFA European Championship before his 19th birthday.<\/p>\n

Still working his way back to 90-minute fitness after a hamstring injury in April, Yamal played just 20 minutes in Spain\u2019s 0-0 draw with Cape Verde on Monday. In Sunday\u2019s match, each time Yamal touched the ball, the crowd drew in a breath of anticipation. His prodigious left foot often seemed magnetized to the ball, even as he cut between defenders, changed direction and searched for ways to create Spain\u2019s first goal of the tournament.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long.<\/p>\n

After 10 minutes of Yamal directing Spain\u2019s attack with the ball at his feet on the right wing, Spain moved the ball to the left side of the field and left Yamal to find an open channel. As Mikel Oyarzabal \u2014 who went on to score two goals of his own \u2014 received the ball on the left side of the box, he crossed it to an unmarked Yamal, who was sprinting forward and needed just a simple touch to convert his first goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cScoring in the World Cup, it\u2019s an incredibly special feeling,\u201d Yamal told Spanish television. \u201cI\u2019ve always dreamed of being at the World Cup, and to be able to score in my first match as a starter is a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yamal added that four years ago, for the last World Cup, he was watching matches from his classroom at La Masia, the famed Barcelona player development academy. Raised in the working-class neighborhood of Rocafonda in the town of Matar\u00f3, about 20 miles north of Barcelona, Yamal entered La Masia at seven and quickly began a meteoric rise.<\/p>

Read more Egypt\u2019s Mo Salah adds to list of accolades in World Cup against New Zealand<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Yamal jerseys are everywhere in Atlanta. (Mattia Ozbot\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

In 2023, Yamal made his debut for Barcelona at 15 and became the youngest player in the history of the storied Spanish club. He scored his first goal just a few months later, at 16 years 87 days old, to become the youngest goal scorer for Barcelona \u2014 beating out Lionel Messi, who scored his first goal for Barcelona at 17 years 10 months.<\/p>\n

Yamal finished second in Ballon d\u2019Or voting last year, coming up just short of being named the best player in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen there are players with individual attributes in this game, that can work one-on-one, they can make a difference,\u201d Saudi Arabia Coach Georgios Donis said. \u201cThis is a player that makes a difference all the time in Spain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spain jerseys outnumber all others on the streets of Atlanta, and Yamal\u2019s No. 19 is on the backs of most of them. Yamal was given the coveted No. 10, historically worn by a team\u2019s most special player, at Barcelona last summer \u2014 but he\u2019s too young and too new in the national team to get to wear it internationally, despite his stardom.<\/p>\n

But the No. 19 will perhaps have an extra significance this year for Yamal. He turns 19 on July 13, one day before the World Cup semifinals begin, and the final is July 19. Spain was one of the favorites to win this year\u2019s tournament, and with Yamal returning to full form, his country\u2019s hopes remain high.<\/p>\n

Though he played only 45 minutes Sunday, Yamal\u2019s impact was undeniable in turning Spain\u2019s fortunes after a dismal first result against Cape Verde.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would have played more in a different scenario,\u201d Spain Coach Luis De la Fuente said. \u201cWe had control of the game and we want him to be fit for the next game \u2014 potentially for the entire match. It was important for him to feel confident. He is in perfect condition.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Surman gets World Cup goal but New Zealand falls to Egypt 3-1<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the game’s first 10 minutes, 18-year-old Lamine Yamal scored in a rout of Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nLamine Yamal, Spain\u2019s teen superstar, makes impact in first World Cup start - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4694\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lamine Yamal, Spain\u2019s teen superstar, makes impact in first World Cup start - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the game's first 10 minutes, 18-year-old Lamine Yamal scored in a rout of Saudi Arabia.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4694\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-22T07:04:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/41a041867fdeb195995cb1a6019157ad-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1568\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4694#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4694\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Lamine Yamal, Spain\u2019s teen superstar, makes impact in first World Cup start\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-22T07:04:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4694\"},\"wordCount\":827,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4694#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e94c287890d1dbfebeec60008fc02797-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4694#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4694\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4694\",\"name\":\"Lamine Yamal, Spain\u2019s teen superstar, makes impact in first World Cup start - 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