This is an updated version of a story first published on Nov. 30, 2025. The original video can be viewed here. Want to see eyes pop and jaws drop? Ask your soccer-loving friends about Lamine Yamal, an 18-year-old sensation from Spain. Better yet, watch him play, ideally in person, which you can do this month when the World Cup gets underway in North America for the first time in 32 years. The tournament draw will be held Friday in Washington, D.C. This World Cup likely will double as a valedictory for global soccer's GOAT, Lionel Messi of Argentina. But it will also be a debut showcase for the extravagant, generational talent of the player who's been cast as Messi's heir. As we first told you in November, Lamine Yamal is not yet licensed to drive, not yet liberated from wearing braces. Already, though, the world — like the ball he dribbles — is at his feet. Summer of '24. Munich, Germany. Semifinals of the European Soccer Championship… Remember what you were doing at age 16? Spanish soccer whiz kid Lamine Yamal was doing this…A bit of sorcery that helped Spain vault to victory over France and eventually to the European title. And it vaulted Lamine out of adolescence and into global sports stardom. Turned out, he was just limbering up. Now all of 18, he's a star winger for his pro club FC Barcelona – aka Barça. He doesn't just score goals. He's a master of improv. Watch here — it's almost like slapstick comedy — as he eludes a gaggle of grown men from the other team.Jon Wertheim: You're a teenager, sometimes these guys are ten, fifteen years older than you, they've got kids at home, and you're still clowning 'em. Lamine Yamal (translation): If I were a fullback, I wouldn't like it if a player who's much better than me were to keep getting away from me all the time. I'd ask them "please slow down a little," otherwise my friends would make memes about it.