3 min readJun 7, 2026 03:58 PM IST
First published on: Jun 7, 2026 at 03:58 PM IST
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has hailed Lamine Yamal as one of football’s rarest talents but stopped short of declaring the teenager the successor to Lionel Messi, insisting the Argentine remains a figure beyond comparison.
Yamal’s dazzling rise for Spain and Barcelona has inevitably drawn parallels with Messi, particularly after the resurfacing of the famous photograph showing the Argentine bathing a baby Yamal during a charity calendar shoot nearly two decades ago.
While De la Fuente believes the 18-year-old belongs in an elite category of players blessed with extraordinary talent, he warned against placing the burden of succeeding Messi on the youngster’s shoulders.
A baby Lamine Yamal with his mother and Lionel Messi during a calendar shoot from back when he was six months old; a 16-year-old Yamal celebrates scoring against France in the Euro 2024 semi-final. (AP/Reuters)
“Messi: Those are big words. Messi has been, is, and will always be … he is football,” De la Fuente told The Guardian.
The Spain coach, however, grouped Yamal alongside the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner while discussing the qualities required to thrive under the intense spotlight of elite football.
“Footballers are people of high ability, so intelligent. They are geniuses, and then there are those that are touched by God’s wand, and there are very few of those. Lamine, Messi …” he said.
De la Fuente believed what separates Yamal from countless gifted youngsters is his ability to handle the extraordinary expectations that have followed him since bursting onto the scene as a teenager.
“Lamine was born for this. He has a daring character. Maybe that [pressure] would have overwhelmed you or me. But these guys are special.”
The 64-year-old pointed to the long list of highly rated prospects who never managed to convert talent into sustained success at the highest level.
“How many times have we asked of a player: ‘How good was that guy, what happened to him? Why didn’t he make it?’ Because you have to be good at football and a thousand things more.”
Yamal was only 16 when he helped Spain win the European Championship in Germany, becoming one of the youngest stars ever to perform on such a stage. According to De la Fuente, the winger’s maturity has been just as impressive as his football.
“Lamine was 16 [at the Euros], 18 now, he puts up with a brutal media pressure and makes very few errors.”
The Spain coach also defended young footballers from what he sees as disproportionate scrutiny.
“One minute, one mistake, and the focus is on that; that’s not fair. There are hours, days, with physios, nutritionists, psychologists, coaches … it’s the work, the values.”
Asked about the now-famous image linking Messi and Yamal, De la Fuente offered a philosophical explanation.
“Maybe Messi has picked up lots of babies,” he said. “Maybe it’s chance. But for those of us who have faith, who believe in something beyond, ‘chance’ is God’s pseudonym when he doesn’t want to sign his name. In life, I think, everything happens for a reason.”
Yamal's dazzling rise for Spain and Barcelona has inevitably drawn parallels with Messi (AP Photo) 
A baby Lamine Yamal with his mother and Lionel Messi during a calendar shoot from back when he was six months old; a 16-year-old Yamal celebrates scoring against France in the Euro 2024 semi-final. (AP/Reuters)
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