Lamine Yamal player profile: age, stats, trophies and why he is a Ballon d’Or favourite at 19

Lamine Yamal is 19 years old and has already won almost everything a footballer can win with club and country, apart from the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or. On Tuesday he scored again, a solo equaliser against Paris Saint-Germain, and on Monday 26 October he goes to the Ballon d’Or ceremony in London as one of the two leading candidates. This is a guide to who he is, what he has done and how he plays.

Lamine Yamal at a glance

Full name: Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana. Born: 13 July 2007, in Esplugues de Llobregat, near Barcelona; he grew up in the Rocafonda neighbourhood of Mataró. Club: FC Barcelona, shirt number 10, under contract until 2031. Country: Spain. Position: right winger. Height: about 1.83 m. Stronger foot: left.

How old is Lamine Yamal?

He turned 19 on 13 July 2026, six days before Spain won the World Cup final. He made his Barcelona debut on 29 April 2023 against Real Betis, aged 15 years and 290 days, the youngest player ever to appear for the club in LaLiga. He has been a regular since the 2023-24 season, which means he is only in his fourth full season as a professional.

Career so far: the key moments

La Masia: Yamal joined Barcelona’s academy as a child and moved through every age group before his first-team debut at 15.

Euro 2024: At 16 he was one of Spain’s best players at the European Championship in Germany. His goal against France in the semi-final made him the youngest scorer in the tournament’s history, Spain went on to win the final against England, and he was named the Young Player of the Tournament.

2024-25: Barcelona won LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. Yamal finished second in the 2025 Ballon d’Or voting behind Ousmane Dembélé and won the Kopa Trophy for the best young player for the second year in a row.

2025-26: His most productive season. He scored 16 league goals and made 11 assists, the most assists in LaLiga, and was named the league’s player of the season as Barcelona retained the title. Across all competitions ESPN counts 25 goals and 20 assists in 57 matches. He also won the Spanish Super Cup, although a hamstring injury kept him out of the final month of the club season.

World Cup 2026: Spain won the tournament in North America, beating France 2-0 in the semi-final and Argentina 1-0 in the final in New Jersey on 19 July, with Ferran Torres scoring in extra time. Yamal scored once, against Saudi Arabia in the group stage, and his influence came more through creating and carrying the ball than through goals. Going into the final, Opta noted that Spain had won every one of the 12 matches he had started at a European Championship or World Cup.

Lamine Yamal stats: the numbers that matter

Goals and assists are only part of the picture. In 2025-26 he completed 559 dribbles, more than any player in Europe, and created 131 chances, according to ESPN. The same data shows the cost of that style: he was dispossessed 1,181 times. Yamal is asked to take risks, and Barcelona accept the turnovers because his successful actions create so many of their goals.

The 2026-27 season has started in the same way. Barcelona won their first nine LaLiga games, he set up two goals in the 4-1 Champions League win at Galatasaray, and he scored Barcelona’s second goal in Tuesday’s 4-2 defeat in Paris.

How does Lamine Yamal play?

Yamal starts on the right and works inside on his left foot, the classic inverted winger. What makes him different is the range of what he does from there. He can beat a full-back on the outside as well as the inside, he plays passes with the outside of his left boot that most players would not attempt, and he shoots from distance with a curling finish towards the far post.

He is also a creator as much as a scorer. Eleven league assists in 2025-26 show that he often looks for a team-mate first, and in big games opponents tend to put two players on him, which opens space for Barcelona’s other attackers. If there is a weakness, it is the one in the numbers above: when the dribble fails, Barcelona can be caught in transition.

Will Lamine Yamal win the 2026 Ballon d’Or?

The 2026 Ballon d’Or will be presented at the London Palladium on Monday 26 October, the day after El Clásico, with the winner chosen by a panel of 100 journalists. The case for Yamal is trophies and influence: the LaLiga title, the league’s player of the season award and a World Cup winner’s medal. The main rival is Kylian Mbappé, whose case is goals: ESPN counts 58 goals and 13 assists in 60 matches for club and country over the voting period, and he became the World Cup’s all-time top scorer, although neither Real Madrid nor France won a major trophy.

If Yamal wins, he will be the first teenager to take the award. Whatever happens in London, he will play El Clásico the night before, and his performance against Real Madrid will be the last thing many voters see.

Lamine Yamal: frequently asked questions

What is Lamine Yamal’s shirt number? He wears 10 for Barcelona, the number previously worn by Lionel Messi, and has a contract until 2031.

Which countries could Lamine Yamal have played for? He was born in Spain to a Moroccan father and an Equatorial Guinean mother, and chose Spain.

Has Lamine Yamal won the Champions League? Not yet. His best run so far was the 2024-25 semi-final, when Barcelona lost to Inter. Follow Barcelona’s results and the Champions League table on SportPulses.