Euro 2024: Lamine Yamal makes history for Spain against Croatia

An outrageously precocious talent, Yamal will turn 17 on 13 July, the day before the final.

The previous youngest player at the Euros was Poland’s Kacper Kozlowski – 17 years and 246 days – in a 1-1 group-stage draw against Spain in Seville in June 2021, but you get the feeling Yamal could break a few more records in the coming days.

“He will do things we cannot yet imagine,” says Ivan Carrasco, who trained him at junior level.

“I remember him as a boy who was very aware of his talent. In sport, talented people tend to be very selfish, but not Yamal.

“I saw a generous child who did not seek recognition. As a coach you sometimes thought, ‘what can I teach him if he does things that I can’t even imagine from the bench?’

“The closer you are to Lamine, the more you realise that the label of ‘decisive’ falls short. He is a very, very special footballer.”

Former Barcelona reporter and current Sport TV journalist Jaume Marcet remembers the day he knew he was watching a prodigy.

Marcet, who is an expert of Barcelona grassroots football, said: “The most brutal display I have seen in grassroots football was from Lamine in the final of the Catalunya cadet tournament.

“I had seen Messi perform brutally, but never something like what Lamine did that match, with kids older than him. That day he did everything.”