DALLAS—This has been a World Cup defined by superstars. All summer, the biggest names in the sport haven’t only come to America and scored bucketloads of goals, they have completely taken over matches.
There was the Erling Haaland game, when Norway’s ponytailed striker bludgeoned Brazil out of the tournament. There was the Jude Bellingham game, when his two goals for England silenced 80,000 fans in the Estadio Azteca. There was the Kylian Mbappé game, in which the France forward carved open Sweden’s defense at will. (In fairness to Sweden, Mbappé also did this against Senegal, Iraq and Morocco.)
But as the semifinals kick off on Tuesday, the tournament—along with the entirety of Spain—is still waiting for the Lamine Yamal game.
The teen prodigy from Barcelona came into this World Cup expecting to sweep America as the most successful Spanish import since the Macarena. He was at the heart of an Adidas campaign with Timothée Chalamet and featured on a giant 400-foot billboard for Powerade that looms over the Atlanta Stadium.
Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup 2026 – Group I – Norway v France – Fans gather in New York – Brooklyn, New York, New York, U.S. – June 26, 2026 An Adidas advert featuring Spain’s Lamine Yamal is towed along on the East River past the Brooklyn Bridge REUTERS/Jordan Tovin TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Instead, his all-conquering road trip has been stuck in neutral. Yamal, who turned 19 on Monday, has just one goal in six games here and zero assists. Two years since his breakout at Euro 2024, where he embarrassed defenders for fun and still finished his homework on the side, the country’s youngest showstopper has gone oddly quiet.
“As long as we win the World Cup,” Yamal said ahead of his clash with France, “I think no one here will complain about me not scoring goals.”
Still, they don’t build 400-foot billboards for guys who just pass the ball sideways. Yamal had racked up 24 goals and 17 assists in his 45 appearances for Barcelona last season. There was no reason to expect his form to dry up the moment he boarded a flight across the Atlantic.
But at this World Cup, he has encountered the harsh reality of his second major tournament. Two years ago, he was an explosive surprise. Now, he’s the young player that opponents have spent two years finding solutions for. And Yamal hasn’t found the net since Spain thumped Saudi Arabia 4-0 in its second game.
“I think he needs to calm down a bit, that anxiety that sometimes he has to prove himself,” said Spain midfielder Rodri. “He’s a very important player for us and he’s a very intelligent guy. But he’s 19 years old and we have to calm him down at certain moments of the game.”
Yamal isn’t the first teenager to hit a speed bump after taking the fast track into his national team.
Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup 2026 – Group H – Uruguay v Spain – Estadio Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico – June 26, 2026 Spain’s Lamine Yamal during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Raquel Cunha
Michael Owen burst onto the scene as an 18-year-old at the 1998 World Cup, but managed just a single goal at his next major tournament, when England crashed out in the group stage at Euro 2000. U.S. fans may remember Julian Green, who made history when he scored with his first touch at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, becoming the national team’s youngest goal scorer at 19 years old. Unfortunately, Green never notched another one at a major international tournament again.
No one on La Roja is worried about Yamal going the same way yet. But some of his underlying numbers have been cause for concern. The kid known for his electric speed ranks only ninth in total sprints on his own team and his average speed has been below his teammate Aymeric Laporte’s—even though Laporte is a central defender.
Those are some way short of Yamal’s best, but they also far exceed his expected output when he suffered a severe hamstring injury in April and briefly looked doomed to miss the tournament entirely. He recovered swiftly enough to feature in every game here, but has been forced to work his way back to full fitness while being aggressively man-marked by every opponent he faces.
Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup 2026 – Quarter Final – Spain v Belgium – Los Angeles Stadium, Inglewood, California, U.S. – July 10, 2026 Spain’s Lamine Yamal celebrates after the match as Spain qualify for the semi final stage of the World Cup IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Gary Vasquez
Which isn’t to say that La Roja is growing impatient. Spain has only to look at the one metric that shows his importance even more than goals and assists. Since Yamal’s national team debut, it hasn’t lost a single one of its 26 matches with him in the lineup.
“Maybe people think he’s expected to score three goals in every match,” midfielder Alex Baena said. “I think he’s delivering a fantastic tournament.”
Write to Joshua Robinson at Joshua.Robinson@wsj.com and Jonathan Clegg at Jonathan.Clegg@wsj.com
