When Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time at MetLife Stadium on July 19, 2026, Lamine Yamal was 19 years and six days old. It was Spain’s second World Cup title and came two years after he won Euro 2024 as the tournament’s youngest player.
Yamal’s World Cup was not defined by a long list of goals. It was defined by the moments that decided Spain’s biggest matches, and by a career that had already broken most age records before the tournament began.
Key Facts
- Yamal scored his first World Cup goal in Spain’s 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia on June 21, 2026.
- In the semi-final he was fouled for the penalty that put Spain 1-0 up against France. Spain won 2-0.
- Spain won the final 1-0 after extra time, with Ferran Torres scoring in the 106th minute from a Nico Williams header.
- Teammates Rodri (Golden Ball), Unai Simon (Golden Glove) and Pau Cubarsi (Young Player Award) won individual honours.
Yamal’s Road to the Final
Yamal was named in Spain’s 26-man squad on May 25, 2026, just over a month after tearing a hamstring on April 22 that ended his club season. He scored his first World Cup goal on June 21 in the 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia, aged 18.
Spain then beat Portugal 1-0 in the round of 16 through a 91st-minute Mikel Merino goal. In the semi-final in Dallas on July 14, Mikel Oyarzabal scored a first-half penalty after Yamal was fouled, and Pedro Porro added a second goal in the 58th minute to beat France 2-0.
The final against Argentina was goalless after 90 minutes, with Argentina failing to register a shot in regulation time. Torres scored the winner in the 106th minute, and Enzo Fernandez received a second yellow card in stoppage time for a tackle on Cubarsi.
The Records Before the World Cup
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| April 29, 2023 | Barcelona debut at 15 years, 9 months and 16 days, a substitute for Gavi in a 4-0 win over Real Betis. The fifth-youngest player in La Liga history. |
| September 8, 2023 | Spain debut in a 7-1 win away to Georgia, scoring in the 74th minute at 16 years and 57 days. Spain’s youngest player and youngest goalscorer. |
| June 15, 2024 | Euro 2024 debut against Croatia at 16 years and 338 days, the youngest player to feature in the tournament. |
| July 9, 2024 | Curling goal in the 2-1 semi-final win over France, the youngest goalscorer in Euro history. It won Goal of the Tournament. |
| July 14, 2024 | Spain beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final. Yamal assisted Nico Williams’s first-half goal and was named Young Player of the Tournament, with four assists, a joint record for a single Euros. |
He also became the youngest player to feature in El Clasico in 2023, and the youngest El Clasico goalscorer on October 26, 2024, aged 17 years and 105 days, in a 4-0 win over Real Madrid.
For how Barcelona and Real Madrid have fared against each other in the league lately, see our La Liga head-to-head results.
Club Form and Awards
Barcelona presented him with the number 10 shirt on July 16, 2025. He scored 18 goals in 55 appearances in 2024-25 and 24 goals in 45 appearances in 2025-26, including a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Villarreal on February 28, 2026.
He won the Golden Boy in 2024, the Kopa Trophy in 2024 and 2025 (the first player to win it twice), and finished runner-up for the 2025 Ballon d’Or at 18.
The Teammates Around Him
Spain’s title was a team effort. Rodri won the Golden Ball, Unai Simon the Golden Glove and Cubarsi the Young Player Award. Spain also became the first team to win the tournament while conceding only one goal. Read more on Pau Cubarsi’s World Cup and Unai Simon’s Golden Glove.
What Comes Next
Yamal will be 22 at the 2030 World Cup, which Spain co-hosts. See who could challenge Spain in 2030, and how other nations fared in 2026 in our report on Paraguay’s shock win over Germany and England’s semi-final run.
Sources: Wikipedia: Lamine Yamal, Wikipedia: 2026 FIFA World Cup final, Wikipedia: 2026 FIFA World Cup.