All Over Yamal

By Sarah McVeigh

Growing up, most of my friends played soccer. They started from a young age and played throughout high school. Like I discussed in my previous article, I was not a sporty chick. My male friends, especially, loved playing and watching soccer any chance they could. They cared, and still care, about the different “futbol clubs” across all the different countries’ leagues that I truly couldn’t give one **** about. To be honest, I had to do a good amount of research for this article because of how little I know about soccer.

So, for the girlies that do not know, buckle up, this gets a little bit confusing. Most countries have their own professional soccer leagues. For example, the Premier League in England is considered one of the “Big Five” which make up the largest leagues in Europe. The others include the Bundesliga in Germany, La Liga in Spain, Serie A in Italy, and Ligue 1 in France. But these are just the top leagues in those countries. There are many other lower-level leagues similar to MLB’s minor leagues. In the Premier League alone, there are 20 teams. Then there are even more leagues across Asia and South America, not to mention the United States’ humble MLS. In total, there are over 4,400 professional soccer teams in the world!

It seems like a little bit of overkill if you ask me, but I guess that just speaks to the popularity and talent of the sport worldwide.

Do not worry, I am not writing an article on soccer, but I thought a little background was important. So with all that being said, there are a lot of professional, successful soccer players in the world.

Out of all these players around the world, I keep seeing this one little teenager all over my social media, and his name is Lamine Yamal. Yamal is 17 years old and plays as a forward for Futbol Club Barcelona. (I also find it important to add that Lionel Messi played for Barcelona, so they make stars.) Yamal made his debut when he was only 15 years old, which really is just depressing when you compare it to what I was doing at 15 years old. He is the youngest person to ever play and score for Barcelona.

He was given the “Golden Boy” award, which is given by sports journalists to a young soccer player who had a deserving season and a promising future. Yamal did not show up to the Golden Boy Ceremony. You know why? Because he “had to go to school.” Please stop — I cannot handle the absolute adorableness.

This week, he won the Breakthrough of the Year award at the 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards. For reference, Simone Biles won Sportswoman of the Year at those same awards, so in my books, it is not an irrelevant awards ceremony.

Yamal has broken several records not only for Barcelona but across soccer in general. Like I said, I don’t really care about the soccer part, but I am interested in Yamal. He is only 17 years old, and for that reason alone, I feel that we should care!

All I can think about is the David Beckham documentary — young, talented, successful, heartthrob. Who should we hook this kid up with? Someone age-appropriate and fabulous. Who is his Spice Girl?

Trying to be cool, I text my cousin, who is a badass high school soccer player, for her opinion on Yamal. What does she tell me? She has never heard of the guy.

Maybe this article is completely irrelevant, but I think I am just ahead of the curve in America for Yamal-mania. Also, is anyone else being fed this guy’s content, or just me? Regardless, I would like to put on record that Yamal has a big future, and please do not come to me in two years like you found him because I (Spain) did.