Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal became Spain’s youngest ever debutant and goalscorer as he netted the seventh goal in La Rioja’s thrashing of Georgia to move them back into second place in their EURO2024 group behind unbeaten Scotland.
Luis Enrique’s side now sit two points clear of third-placed Norway with a game in hand on the sides below them, but had looked unlikely to qualify after a shock loss to Scotland.
A hefty thrashing of Georgia changed things though. A hat-trick from striker Alvaro Morata were added to by goals from Nico Williams, Dani Olmo and an own goal from Solomon Kvrikvelia to leave La Rioja well on course to book their place in Germany next summer.
The star of the show, however, was young wunderkind Lamine Yamal, who had already taken the record of being Barcelona’s youngest ever debutant and youngest ever starter.
His strike 17 minutes from time to put the icing on the cake for Spain was their seventh, and his first on the international scene.
With the ball breaking to him inside the area, he curled past the Georgia goalkeeper and into the far corner.
✅ Spain’s youngest ever player
✅ Spain’s youngest ever scorerLamine Yamal, take a bow 🙇♂️
What an international debut this is for the 16-year-old 👏🇪🇸#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/3zkZEBIOYV
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) September 8, 2023
He also became their youngest-ever goalscorer at just 16-years and 52 days, again overtaking Gavi who managed the feat at 17 years and 10 months.
Yamal is Barcelona’s latest young star, having started three of Barcelona’s four La Liga games this season and grabbing two assists in that time.
He is under contract until 2026, and along with fellow young talent Alejandro Balde is set to dominate football at the Camp Nou for the next decade and more.
