Euro 2024: Lamine Yamal Makes History for Spain on His Father’s Birthday

• Lamine Yamal has been named in Spain's starting 11 for their Euro 2024 Group B opening match against Croatia
• Head coach Luis de la Fuente selected the teenager on the right side of La Roja's traditional 4-3-3 formation
• At 16 years and 338 days old, Yamal becomes the youngest-ever player to feature at the European Championship

Lamine Yamal was named in Spain's starting lineup for their Group B opening match against Croatia at the 2024 European Championships.

The youngster was selected to start as the left-wing forward of La Roja's traditional 4-3-3 formation by head coach Luis de la Fuente, where he can utilise his pace and trickery to terrorise the opposing full-back.

The 16-year-old came through Barcelona's famous La Masia academy and made his debut as a 15-year-old under former manager Xavi Hernandez. He made his national team debut and scored in the 7-1 win over Georgia.

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Football

Lamine Yamal makes Euro 2024 history

According to ESPN FC, Yamal, at 16 years and 338 days old, is now the youngest player to feature at a European Championship, surpassing the record held by Polish international Kacper Kozlowski, who played at Euro 2020 at 17 years and 246 days old.

This milestone comes on his father, Mounir Nasraoui’s birthday. Through his ancestry, Yamal is also eligible to play for African countries, such as Morocco and Equatorial Guinea.

He was impressive on his major tournament debut. He provided a brilliant assist for Dani Carvajal, the youngest player to do so, but a brilliant save from Dominic Livakovic denied him a goal.

He was a constant thorn in Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol's flesh down the left side of the Croatian defence, completing three of his four attempted take-on.

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Yamal, who had just become the youngest player to feature in the tournament's history, comes off the back of a breakout full season with Barcelona to play for Spain at a major tournament.