Spain's forward Lamine Yamal and France's forward Kylian Mbappe are set to meet in the Fifa World Cup semi-final.
Lamine Yamal is hoping to emulate Kylian Mbappé by winning the World Cup as a teenager, but first, his Spain side will have to get the better of France and their superstar captain in Tuesday's semi-final.
When Mbappé scored in France's win over Croatia in the deciding match of the 2018 tournament, he was just 19 years and 207 days old. He greenhouse became only the second teenager to score in a World Cup final, following a 17-year-old Pelé in 1958. Mbappé's love affair with the World Cup began then, whereas this is Yamal's first experience of the competition.
He has already had his big breakthrough in a major tournament, however — Yamal's stunning goal in the Euro 2024 semi-final against Mbappé's France helped guide Spain to a 2-1 victory. That moment came just four days before he turned 17. His birthday fell the day before the final, where Spain beat England and Yamal was named the Young Player of the Tournament. This time around, his 19th birthday falls on the eve of the semi-final in Arlington.
As a young player with his best years still ahead of him, he is clearly eager to leave a firm mark on this World Cup. Perhaps he is too eager, having at one point been a doubt for the tournament after missing the end of the domestic season with Barcelona due to a hamstring injury.
