Lamine Yamal emulates Brazil legend Pele with first World Cup goal for Spain
Teenage sensation Lamine Yamal etched his name into footballing history on Sunday, evoking memories of the legendary Pele with a stunning breakthrough goal for Spain against Saudi Arabia at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Barcelona attacker scored in the 10th minute, at the age of 18y 343d, becoming only the second player aged 18 or younger to score the opening goal of a FIFA World Cup match.
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Lamine’s starring World Cup debut
The only previous player to achieve this statistic was a 17-year-old Pele, who opened the scoring for Brazil against Wales during the 1958 tournament in Sweden.
Following a disappointing 1-1 opening draw against Cape Verde, Spain manager Luis de la Fuente altered his starting lineup to include Yamal on the right flank.
The forward had previously been recovering from a hamstring injury suffered in April, which limited his usage to a substitute appearance in the opening match.
The opening goal came from a quick offensive transition following a Saudi Arabian goal kick. The ball was worked to Mikel Oyarzabal on the left side of the penalty area, who then delivered a precise low cross across the box toward the far post.
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Historic moment
Anticipating the pass, Yamal made a run into the area and slid to meet the ball, sneaking it through a narrow gap past Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais to score his first-ever World Cup goal on his first appearance at the tournament.
History-maker. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
With Yamal’s strike, Spain became the first national team in history to see two of its players score in a World Cup match at 18 years old or younger. The first instance also involved a Barcelona player when Gavi scored against Costa Rica in 2022 (18y 110d).
Following Lamine’s goal, Oyarzabal added a brace before the 25th minute, the second of which was assisted by Barcelona’s own Dani Olmo, to put La Roja 3-0 ahead on the day, putting them on track for their first win of the tournament.
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There is a poetic beauty in emulating the great King of Football, but it is clear that Lamine is firmly carving out his own legacy.