A star from the start: Lamine Yamal turns 18

When Lamine Yamal stepped out in Barcelona's colours for the first time on April 29, 2023, no one could've foreseen then what an impact a 15 year and 290-day old teenager would make on such a storied football institution.

Here we are just over two years after that day -- when he took Ansu Fati's record as the youngest Barcelona debutant -- and it's no exaggeration to say that he is the Catalan club's main man.

The youngest to start a match in La Liga at 16 years and 38 days old, Lamine can also lay claim to being the youngest to score and assist in the Spanish top-flight too, not to mention being the youngest-ever winner of the league title.

Sure, there's still much to improve upon, but the lad can be given a break. Even Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were still just cutting their teeth at the same age. Lamine is already running the show.

Both of the former legendary players wrote their names in El Clasico history too, and not even the fixture that brings planet football to a standstill is safe from the youngster.

Lamine is already the youngest to feature in the game as well as the youngest to score (17 years, 105 days) after his right-footed rocket put Barca three up in a 4-0 win.

He also bagged another against Los Blancos in a comeback win at the Estadio Lluis Companys.

The Champions League is often seen as the barometer of how good teams and players are, and here too, Lamine has had a say.

At just 16 years and 83 days old, he played against Porto in October 2023 and in so doing, became Barcelona's youngest-ever player in the competition, and also the youngest to start a game in the competition's history.

In the short space of time he's been with the first-team, he's won two Spanish league titles, one Copa del Rey and a Spanish Super Cup whilst he was also part of Spain's 2024 successful European Championship squad. In the lead up to that competition, he played against Georgia aged 16 years and 57 days, becoming the youngest ever player in the Spanish senior squad. A goal underscored his performance and also meant he'd become his country's youngest ever scorer too.

He'd go on to announce himself to the world with a goal against France that was something to savour, and meant that at 16 years and 362 days old, he then became the youngest scorer in the tournament's history and was propelled front and centre as an adoring public sat up and took even more notice.

Given that Spain were triumphant, he took Pele's record as the youngest player to win a senior international tournament for good measure.

Yamal will now go hunting for more trophies in 2025-26 with the No. 10 on his back for Barcelona and the world at his feet.
Most footballers have not even made their professional debut by the time they turn 18. 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.

So far, he has remained unfazed by everything thrown at him, and as he turns 18, he shows no signs of slowing down.