Barcelona Prodigy Lamine Yamal Chooses Spain Over Morocco for International Career

Morocco failed to convince Lamine Yamal to join the Atlas Lions. Moroccan coach Walid Regragui met with the young player last week to persuade him to choose Morocco, but it seems the negotiations did not succeed. The Barcelona prodigy has opted for La Roja and will become the youngest player to make his debut with the Spanish national team, according to Sport.es.

Regragui will publish on Thursday the list of players selected for the matches against Liberia and Burkina Faso scheduled for September, and Lamine Yamal’s name may not be on it. The 16-year-old striker has already played for all the junior categories in Spain (U15, U16, U17 and U19) and is on De la Fuente’s preliminary list for the Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Georgia and Cyprus. He is likely to be on the list that the Spanish coach will publish on Friday.

Born in Spain to a Moroccan father and an Equatorial Guinean mother, Lamine Yamal, the youngest player to make his debut for Barcelona’s first team, has the three nationalities and can play for any of the national teams of these countries. But for now, the young striker has not yet officially chosen his sporting nationality. Morocco and Spain are in fierce competition to snatch Yamal.