At just under 18 years old, Lamine Yamal already has the entire football world at his feet. On Wednesday night, he made his 100th appearance for Barcelona — and what an appearance it was — prompting praise from some of the biggest names in football, both past and present.Inter coach Simone Inzaghi described him after the match as “a once-in-a-half-century talent.” Hansi Flick expressed gratitude that it was Barcelona who had unearthed such a gem. Compliments poured in from all corners of Europe and beyond.A talent on Lamine Yamal’s level only arrives once every 50 years, according to Simone Inzaghi 👀💫 pic.twitter.com/bk8GsmmU3w— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 1, 2025 Although it’s still too early to compare him seriously with the all-time greats, the football world is already drawing parallels between Yamal and legends of the game at a similar age. It’s important to note that times have changed — young players rarely get such major opportunities today — and yet, Yamal is already ahead of some of the best the sport has ever seen.At 17 years and 292 days, Yamal is the second-youngest player ever to start a Champions League semi-final, behind Julian Draxler, who was 65 days younger when he played for Schalke against Manchester United in May 2011. After 100 appearances for Barcelona, the Spaniard has already netted 22 goals.🎙️ HANSI FLICK: “We are very happy with Lamine Yamal. But he has to work hard to stay at this level and keep improving.” pic.twitter.com/KxaYcAXLKA— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 2, 2025 So how does Yamal stack up against others?Lionel Messi, at Yamal’s age, had just nine senior appearances under his belt, with only one goal and no assists. Cristiano Ronaldo had played 19 matches, scoring five goals and assisting four. While Yamal last summer already won the European Championship and became the youngest goalscorer in the history of a major international tournament, Messi and Ronaldo hadn’t even made their senior national team debuts before turning 18. Messi made his Barcelona debut at 17, and didn’t reach double digits in goals until two years later. Ronaldo, at the same age, had only just broken into Sporting Lisbon’s first team and joined Manchester United a year later.Lamine Yamal has racked up the same amount of goal contributions as Lionel Messi did in his first 100 games for Barcelona 🤯💫⚖️ pic.twitter.com/rUUyMGg1gI— OneFootball (@OneFootball) May 1, 2025 Even though Yamal has outshone Messi in terms of achievements by age 17, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner still holds the edge when comparing their first 100 professional matches. Under Pep Guardiola, Messi had already won his first Ballon d’Or and tallied 41 goals and 14 assists, along with a Champions League trophy. Interestingly, Yamal has also been involved in 55 goals — scoring 22 and assisting 33. Ronaldo, at the time of his 100th game (just before turning 20), had 13 goals and 13 assists. Of course, it’s worth noting Messi had far stronger teammates at 17 than Yamal does now.Yamal has also surpassed other football icons. Wayne Rooney, for instance, made his Premier League debut at 16 and famously ended Arsenal’s 30-game unbeaten streak with a stoppage-time goal. Still, by the time he turned 18, he had only scored 12 goals and made two appearances for England. Michael Owen, once considered a global sensation, became the youngest player to reach 100 Premier League goals — at age 23. He debuted for Liverpool at 17 and managed nine goals and five assists before turning 18.🗣️ || Rio Ferdinand: Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t doing what Lamine Yamal was doing at the same age. Rooney didn’t do that. Messi, Neymar, Mbappé, Owen, Zidane, Ronaldinho… none of them were performing as consistently and consistently as this player.With Lamine, we’ve never seen… https://t.co/GGocMCEOq8— Offsidelona 💙❤️ (@BarcaAlldays) March 15, 2025 Kylian Mbappe made Europe stand up when he became the youngest player to score 10 Champions League goals — at 18. The year before, he had already scored seven in the same competition for Monaco. In his first 100 matches, Mbappe had racked up an astonishing 48 goals and 29 assists. Rooney reached 100 games in his fourth professional season and by then had 28 goals and nine assists. Owen’s 100th game for Liverpool came in the FA Cup against Huddersfield, by which point he had 51 goals and 21 assists. Yamal, alongside Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, helped Barcelona lift the Copa del Rey last weekend and the club is still in the hunt for all four trophies. By his 100th game, Messi had already won four titles.Six goals thriller, Yamal magic and Inter surpriseRonaldo Nazario began his senior career at 16 and quickly proved why he was considered the game’s biggest prodigy at the time. Before turning 18, he had scored 44 goals in 47 appearances. After that, he moved to PSV Eindhoven and exploded with 35 goals in 36 games. Still, at that point, he was older than Yamal is now.Erling Haaland reached 100 club appearances by age 19, and by then had scored 60 goals and assisted 15 times, with two trophies to his name. Regarded as the top striker of his generation, he marked his 100th game with a brace against Paris Saint-Germain in a 2-1 Champions League win, famously celebrating with his now-iconic ‘zen’ pose.Erling Haaland admiring Lamine Yamal’s game on Snapchat 😍 pic.twitter.com/2o0N4U9CPO— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 30, 2025 Neymar had already turned 18 when he reached 100 appearances, and by then he had 48 goals, 27 assists, and two trophies. He debuted at 16 and was already causing havoc for defenders. In his first professional season, he finished as Brazil’s league runner-up and went on to win three straight domestic titles before moving to Barcelona in 2013.Right now, Lamine Yamal is in a league of his own. And there’s simply no one like him.LAMINE YAMAL – 100 appearances at 17 years and 292 days (April 30, 2025)Minutes played: 6,859Goals: 22Assists: 33Trophies: 3LIONEL MESSI – 100 appearances at 20 years and 248 days (February 27, 2008)Minutes played: 6,747Goals: 41Assists: 14Trophies: 5CRISTIANO RONALDO – 100 appearances at 19 years and 348 days (January 19, 2005)Minutes played: 5,785Goals: 13Assists: 13Trophies: 2KYLIAN MBAPPE – 100 appearances at 19 years and 119 days (April 18, 2018)Minutes played: 6,410Goals: 48Assists: 29Trophies: 3ERLING HAALAND – 100 appearances at 19 years and 212 days (February 18, 2020)Minutes played: 5,948Goals: 60Assists: 15Trophies: 3NEYMAR – 100 appearances at 18 years and 251 days (October 17, 2010)Minutes played: 6,944Goals: 48Assists: 27Trophies: 2
