Lamine Yamal surpasses Messi, making World Cup history.
With his contribution to Spain’s 4-0 victory over Saudi Arabia, striker Lamine Yamal made history by entering the top 10 youngest players to score in the World Cup.
Lamine Yamal scored the opening goal for Spain, paving the way for a resounding victory in their second group stage match.
Yamal had been a substitute in the opening match against Cape Verde before coming on in the second half but couldn’t help Spain break the deadlock. However, the Barcelona striker only needed 10 minutes to find the net against the Asian side in the match on June 22nd.
And at the age of 18 years and 343 days, that achievement propelled him to eighth place on the list of the 10 youngest players to score at the World Cup.
That goal helped him surpass Lionel Messi, who scored his first World Cup goal for Argentina at the age of 18 years and 357 days in a match against Serbia on June 16, 2006.
But both are far behind Michael Owen of England, who ranks fifth on the list with a goal scored for England against Romania on June 22, 1998, when he was just 18 years and 190 days old.
Before this tournament, Owen was fourth on the list, but Ibrahim Mbaye of Senegal surpassed him at 18 years and 143 days old after scoring in a 1-3 defeat against France on June 16.
However, Yamal is not the youngest Spanish player to score at the World Cup, as Gavi previously held the third spot on the all-time list after scoring against Costa Rica at the 2022 World Cup.
Second on the list is Manuel Rosas of Mexico, who scored for Mexico against Argentina at just 18 years and 93 days old at the inaugural World Cup in 1930.
The record for the youngest goalscorer in World Cup history is still held by Brazilian legend Pele. He won the World Cup three times and made history with his goal against Wales at the 1958 World Cup at just 17 years and 293 days old.
