Spain and Morocco Compete for Dual-Nationality Football Talents

The Spanish and Moroccan football federations are engaged in a fierce battle to recruit dual-national players. Players like Lamine Yamal, Youssef Enriquez Lekhedim (Yusi) and El Jabari find themselves at the heart of this rivalry.

Highly courted by Morocco, Lamine Yamal, born in Spain to a Moroccan father and an Equatorial Guinean mother, preferred to join La Roja. The 16-year-old striker was called up by Luis de la Fuente for the matches against Georgia and Cyprus in September, becoming the youngest player to be called up to the Spanish national team. Last season, he was the youngest player to make his debut with Barcelona’s first team, recalls AS.

Unlike Yamal, El Jabari, born in Madrid, decided to become an international with Morocco. The Atlético midfielder, who made his debut with the Spanish U-18 categories in 2022, joined the Moroccan U-20 team the same year.

As for Yusi, one of the most promising full-backs in Real Madrid’s youth teams, also born in Madrid, he accepted this summer to wear the Moroccan jersey. The young player has joined the Moroccan U-20s, after playing for the Spanish U-17s at the 2022 European Championship. El Jabari and Yusi followed the example of Achraf Hakimi, Abdessamad Ezzalzouli and Munir El Haddadi, who had played for the Spanish youth categories before joining the Atlas Lions.