Barcelona Wonderkid Yamal’s Spain Loyalty Tested After Morocco’s U20 Triumph

Fate sometimes plays tricks. Lamine Yamal, one of the promises of world football, saw Morocco win the U20 World Cup in Chile from afar, after beating Argentina 2-0 in the final. A historic victory in which he could have participated. The Moroccan-born striker of FC Barcelona has chosen to represent Spain rather than Morocco. Yamal, who grew up in Mataró and was trained at La Masia, had stated that he had chosen Spain because he had dreamed since childhood of wearing the jersey of his country of birth.

The victory of the Moroccan U20s at the World Cup has rekindled the debate on the choice of the sporting nationality of the 18-year-old player. Invited to the El Chiringuito show, national team coach Walid Regragui recalled his exchanges with Yamal. "I spoke directly with Lamine Yamal and he was very honest with me. Two or three days later, he called me and said: ’Sir, thank you for your affection, but I will choose Spain. I feel Spanish.’ He is a very sincere boy," the Moroccan coach said.

After an exceptional run at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where they finished fourth, becoming the first African team to reach this level of the competition, Morocco has just achieved a historic feat by winning the U20 World Cup, their first world title in any category. If Yamal had chosen Morocco, he would have won his first world title at just 18 years old.

Regragui says he respects the player’s choice and remains admiring of his career. "Lamine Yamal is a generational prodigy. We tried to get him to play with us, but he chose Spain and I wish him good luck. What he is accomplishing at his age is incredible," he said. Yamal, the "little Messi" of Barça, who has chained records of precocity since the beginning of his career, is promised a bright future, even if he has not yet won a World Cup.