'I Wanted to Be Lamine, Not Messi': Yamal on World Cup Glory and Ballon d'Or Ambition
Spain and Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal has opened up on his meteoric rise, World Cup success, and Ballon d'Or ambitions, declaring that modern football’s tactical rigidity cannot suppress players blessed with natural flair.
'Football is Mechanised, but We Have That Spark'
Reflecting on his tactical approach when breaking down rigid defensive structures, Yamal explained how he views defenders almost like programmed machines.
“A full-back will have a coach who says: ‘OK, Lamine: what he does is …’ I think of him as a robot, trying to stop me,” Yamal said. “Robots can be almost perfect but a human will have something a robot doesn’t. Football is mechanised but there are players like me, Pedri, many others, who have that special spark. There’s a typical Neymar move when he stops, fakes, goes the other way: I watched so many videos of him. I try to play with opponents, ensure they can’t mechanise me, don’t know where I’m going.”
Recalling decisive moments against Argentina, Yamal detailed how he manipulated space: “I remember three plays in minutes 60, 70, 80 or thereabouts, when I took on the full-back. Every time, Alexis Mac Allister came over. If I had really wanted to go at the full-back, I would have gone at him fast; instead this time I went slower, carrying the ball, so that Mac Allister had time to get to me, Pedro Porro could arrive behind me and I could play it back.”
From that move, Porro crossed for Nico Williams to head back across goal, allowing Ferran Torres to score. “We knew Ferran needed it,” Yamal said with a laugh. “Well, everyone needs a goal in a World Cup final. If Unai Simón had scored, great. When it goes in, it’s spectacular, you feel you’re champions.”
Escaping the Messi Comparison
Following the final whistle, Yamal famously embraced Argentina legend Lionel Messi in a moment that felt like a symbolic passing of the torch. However, Yamal has always fought to forge his own identity rather than be burdened by comparisons to the Argentine great, even making his father remove the famous infant photoshoot picture from social media years ago.
“Because I told him not to,” Yamal explained. “He put it on Facebook once and I told him to take it down. Comparisons were too easy, that was all people would talk about. I wanted to be Lamine; I didn’t want to be Messi. I just wanted to get where I could get. I asked him to wait. When I’m Lamine, do what you want.”
At just 19 years old, Yamal has already won both the European Championship and the World Cup—becoming the youngest player ever to achieve the double, surpassing records set by icons like Diego Maradona and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ballon d'Or Ambitions
Regarded as a leading contender for the Ballon d'Or alongside Kylian Mbappé, Yamal was straightforward about his standing in the sport.
“Being completely honest, it’s not just this year I’ve been at a Ballon d’Or [winning] level, but longer. Everyone knows that; they know I am differential,” he said. “I think people think: ‘Lamine is 19, he’ll win it at some point, so let’s say someone else …’ I just have to win, win, win, and there will be a time when there’s no debate.”
Despite his rapid ascension, Yamal remains grounded about the realities of life away from football: “I will never say: ‘Who are you? I won the World Cup.’ Only stupid people would do that. I know that football is 0.000001% of life.”