The incredible stats behind Lamine Yamal’s insane head start on Lionel Messi

Nestor Watach • 04 Nov 2024

Lamine Yamal is now exactly the same age as his hero Lionel Messi was when he made his first-team debut for Barcelona way back in October 2004.

Having become Barcelona’s all-time youngest debutant when Xavi handed him his bow against Real Betis in April 2023 when, Yamal has had an 18-month start on the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.

After appearing for Barcelona at the age of 15, the prodigiously talented forward went on to break Barcelona team-mate Gavi’s records as the youngest-ever play to represent, and score for, Spain.

By the time Euro 2024 got underway, he’d already established himself as a regular surefire starter for club and country and then became the youngest player to win either the European Championship or World Cup, doing so just one day after his 17th birthday.

All that, and an astonishingly good start to the 2024-25 campaign, before Messi had even his senior bow for La Blaugrana.

While Yamal is being talked up as the heir to Messi’s throne, if he can score half as many goals and lift half as many trophies it’ll be an incredible career.

But whatever shape it takes from here, we can safely say he’s on the right track to greatness – and the fact that he’s already achieved all this before an era-defining generational talent like Messi had even played a competitive match is testament to his freakish ability.

“For me, the most important thing is to leave a legacy, to have your career,” Yamal responded to the Messi comparisons.

“In the end, being compared to Leo is more important than not looking at it.

“It is true that if you are compared to the best player in history it is because you are doing things well. It doesn’t bother me, obviously, but I try to always be myself.”

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We’ve broken down the stats from Yamal’s astonishing career to date, with a snapshot of his exact age in comparison to when Lionel Messi made his competitive debut for Barcelona: