Lamine Yamal, Euro 2024 Youngest Player And 17th Anniversary Gift

Lamine Yamal won the title of Young Player of the Year Euro 2024 (Instagram/@lamineyamal).

JAKARTA The European Football Federation (UEFA) officially announced the name Lamine Yamal as the Best Young Player of Euro 2024.

The footballer, who just celebrated his 17th on July 13, 2024, was included in the Spanish squad which made history after beating England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final on Monday, July 15, 2024.

In that victory, Yamal played from the first minute. He was then replaced when the normal time match was only one minute left.

The appearance of this Barcelona player throughout the four-year tournament was indeed extraordinary. He really managed to pay for the trust given by Luis de la Fuente to him.

Overall, Yamal played 507 minutes, carved four assists, and scored one goal to help La Furia Roja win their fourth title at the Euros.

Spain now has the status of the most successful team in the European countries' competition. They have one more trophy than Germany which ranks second on the list.

On the way to winning the title, Yamal appeared in all the matches played by Spain aka seven matches. He started in six matches and only once from the bench when he won over Albania in the third match of the group phase.

Yamal became the youngest player in the tournament when he started in a 3-0 win over Croatia in the group's first match. At that time, the Morocco-Guinea Khatulistiwa player was only 16 years old 338 days old.

He then set a new record as the youngest goalscorer at Euro when he broke into France with a beautiful goal in the semifinals at the age of 16 years 362 days. The goal made him break the Swiss striker, Johan Vonlanthen.

Barcelona players

Yamal has the full name Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana. He was born on July 13, 2007 in Esplugues de Llobregat, a municipality in the metropolitan area of Barcelona.

The area is quite close to the Camp Nou Stadium, home to Barcelona. Esplugues is also the residence of former Barcelona players, such as Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta, and Dani Alves.

Yamal is the son of an immigrant couple from Equatorial Guinea and Morocco. His father was named Mounir Nasraoui from Morocco, while Yamal's mother was Sheila Ebana from Equatorial Guinea.

Yamal started his career with local club CF La Torreta before moving to Barcelona's academy, La Masia. He then caught the attention of Barcelona coach, Xavi Hernandez, while playing for the Barca U-19 team.

His tremendous potential for him was also called to Barcelona's first team and made his debut in April 2023 against Real Betis. At that time he was only 15 years old, 9 months, and 16 days old.

Euro Young Players List

2016: Renato Sanches (Portugal)2020: Pedri (Spain)2024: Lamine Yamal (Spain)