The Next Generation — Under-21 Players Who Will Define the Late 2020s
Lamine Yamal, Jude Bellingham, and Erling Haaland are already established. Who comes next? Twelve under-21 players who will define football from 2027 onward.
Lamine Yamal won the 2024 EURO at 17. Two years later, he''s the most-watched teenager in football. Here''s the path to 2026 and what makes him special.
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See also: KOC Lamine Yamal player profile.
Lamine Yamal turned 17 the day after he scored in the semi-final of EURO 2024. Two months later he was Barcelona's first-choice winger. Twelve months later he was the most-watched teenager in football. The 2026 World Cup is the next exam.
Three traits no other teenager combines:
Yamal could play for Spain, Morocco, or Equatorial Guinea internationally. He chose Spain in 2024 and won the EURO. The decision was less obvious than the press treated it — both Morocco and Equatorial Guinea actively recruited.
Barcelona's La Liga title defence hinges on Yamal staying healthy. Spain's World Cup hopes depend on him reaching peak form by June. The pressure on an 18-year-old is enormous; the talent is too.
Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana is a Spanish right winger born in Esplugues de Llobregat on 13 July 2007. Raised in Rocafonda, he joined Barcelona's La Masia in 2014 and moved rapidly through the academy. He made his Barcelona first-team debut in 2023 at age 15 and soon became a regular, setting multiple age records in La Liga, the Champions League and El Clásico. Yamal won the Kopa Trophy and Golden Boy honours as a teenager. He made his senior Spain debut in 2023, becoming the country's youngest player and goalscorer, then starred at UEFA Euro 2024 as Spain won the tournament and he was named Young Player of the Tournament.
→ See the full KOC player profile for stats and fixtures.