How Lamine Yamal jumped the queue to become the world’s next greatest footballer

DUBAI: As Spain’s teammates and substitutes celebrated wildly at the final whistle, Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana fell to his knees and raised his hands in prayer. And no wonder the 19-year-old Muslim player gave thanks toward the heavens. He had just achieved what no player has ever before, becoming a world and European champion before turning 20.

Today, thanks to those two international titles in 2024 and 2026, Yamal has now jumped the queue to arguably stand as the world’s biggest football star, and already one of its most successful ever at international level.

When France won the 2018 World Cup in Russia, many of us confidently predicted that Kylian Mbappe was on the threshold of becoming the world’s next greatest active footballer. But we had reckoned without the astonishing longevity and continued excellence of Lionel Messi and his rival for that title, Cristiano Ronaldo. At 31 and 33 respectively, neither was prepared to walk off into the sunset just yet.

In fact, four years later in Qatar, as we still awaited Mbappe’s coronation, Messi pulled off his greatest achievement by leading Argentina to that coveted world title that confirmed him as football’s undisputed greatest of all time, the GOAT in modern sporting parlance.

Eight years on, having been joined by Norwegian phenomenon Erling Haaland and despite extraordinary goal-scoring feats, we were still waiting.

After Argentina’s loss in Sunday’s World Cup final, it is almost inconceivable that Messi and Ronaldo, who earlier exited the tournament with Portugal also at the hands of Spain, will, or even can, prolong their international careers any longer into their 40s. Immortality is now Yamal’s for the taking.

In many ways, World Cup 2026 and all-time top