Lamine Yamal’s Stats at 17 Compared to Ronaldo, Messi and Rooney

Lamine Yamal’s incredible strike against France in the Euro 2024 semi-final cemented his place in history as the youngest-ever goalscorer in European Championship history. The remarkable effort from outside the box by the then-16-year-old Barcelona prodigy has seen comparisons drawn to footballing legends who also made their breakthrough at an early age.

The obvious comparison is that of Lionel Messi. At the time of his 2004 debut, aged 17, he was the youngest Barcelona player in the modern era, until his record was surpassed by Bojan Krkic in 2007. What Messi went on to achieve in his career needs zero introduction, but it’s suffice to say it means incredibly high praise for Yamal to be compared to the Argentine.

Related

11 Players Who Have Boosted Their Reputation at Euro 2024

Several players have shone at EURO 2024 despite doubts over their abilities before the tournament.

Two other comparisons made have been that of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. Ronaldo is also regarded to have been one of the greatest players of all time, having broken out at Sporting CP at the age of 17. Rooney, one of England and the Premier League’s most iconic players, burst onto the scene at the age of 16 for boyhood club Everton.

The comparisons to such greats of the game are understandable, but how do they directly compare numerically? To solve that puzzle and provide backing to the talent of Yamal, below is a look at each player at his age (17) to see how they compared, and just how far the Spaniard can go.

Appearances

Rooney leads the way

One area of his career where Yamal has already started catching Ronaldo, Rooney and Messi is on appearances alone. Yamal, aged just 17 at the time of writing, has already clocked up 51 appearances for Barcelona in all competitions.

His 2023-24 season saw him break several “youngest player” records. He is now: The youngest player to start a La Liga game, the youngest Barcelona player in history, the fifth-youngest La Liga player of all time, the youngest Barcelona and La Liga goalscorer, the second-youngest Champions League player, the youngest Champions League starter, the youngest player in a Champions League knockout stage, the youngest Barcelona player to feature in El Clasico, and the youngest ever player to score a brace in La Liga.

Related

Bukayo Saka vs Lamine Yamal Euro 2024 Statistics Compared

Bukayo Saka and Lamine Yamal will go head-to-head in the Euro 2024 final after both impressing for their countries – here’s how their stats compare.

Rooney is the only player from this list of four to have also made a single senior appearance in any sense before his 17th birthday, let alone 51. The Everton prodigy had made seven appearances before he turned 17 years old, scoring three goals, and made a total of 37 appearances in his debut season, 13 less than Yamal’s first season as a full-fledged first teamer. Rooney does take the lead of the group in total, though, from his first two seasons with 77.

Ronaldo and Messi did not make their debuts before they turned 17, both breaking into the senior sides of Sporting and Barcelona respectively, at 17 years old. Ronaldo went on to make 71 appearances in his first two seasons with Sporting and Manchester United, debuting fully against Milan in the Champions League, whereas Messi trails the list with nine total appearances in his senior breakout year.

Related

Meaning Behind Lamine Yamal’s ‘304’ Celebration

The 16-year-old wonderkid’s celebration has a very special meaning.

Yamal is, however, the youngest of the four to have been capped for his country, and the only one of them to have scored on their international debut, netting in the 74th minute of a Euro 2024 qualifier against Georgia in a 7-1 victory.

Rooney was the next youngest to earn a cap, debuting at 17 in a friendly against Australia, whereas Ronaldo and Messi both played their first international games at the age of 18. Messi’s international bow was not one to remember, however, being sent off just 30 seconds after his introduction after a scuffle with an opposition player.

Goal Contributions

Yamal leads the pack

When looking directly at early-age goal contributions between the quadrants, it is Yamal who leads the way, though the margins are smaller on this occasion. The Spaniard has had an impressive breakout season. He’s also found the back of the net on three occasions for Spain, having added a brilliant record-breaker against France. The electric winger has recorded seven assists, including in the Euro 2024 final against England, leaving the prodigy with 27 goal contributions from 65 career games.

Ronaldo registered 11 goal contributions for Sporting in his breakthrough campaign, with five goals and six assists in all competitions. The Portuguese superstar followed this campaign up with a further 14 goal contributions for Man United, leaving him just one behind Yamal. Rooney grabbed nine, with eight goals and one assist, but was also booked as many times as he scored. The Englishman added another 13 goal contributions in his second pro season.

Related

Kylian Mbappe vs Cristiano Ronaldo at 25 Stats Comparison

Two greats of their respective generations match-up, to show just how different (and in some cases, similar) they are.

Messi only found the net once in his debut year, a brilliantly lofted effort over the goalkeeper after being supplied by mentor Ronaldhino. The Argentine genius’ full-on breakthrough year was much more successful, being directly involved in 13 goal contributions, eight goals and five assists.

Honours

Messi takes the prize of early-career trophies

Whilst Yamal can still count himself as a La Liga winner and Euro 2024 champion, he can’t boast accolades at this stage of his career in comparison to Messi. He was nominated for the Golden Boy award that same year, but was forced to miss the ceremony because of prior engagements (he had school).

Leo, however, nets the grand prize for accolades achieved in his formative years. He made seven league appearances in his debut season as Barcelona won the 2004-05 La Liga title, and was a full-fledged first teamer the season after, as Barca won the league again. This triumph was accompanied by a Champions League trophy, although Messi was suspended for the final. He was also named the Argentine Player of the Year after the 2005 season, aged just 18.

Ronaldo is the only one of the other two to have won a trophy within their first two seasons in senior football, picking up the 2002 edition Portuguese Super Cup, though he did not make it off of the bench in the game. Ronaldo’s second year as a senior took him to Manchester in 2003, where he picked up the 2003-04 FA Cup in his debut year, scoring in the final against Millwall.

Related

Who is Barcelona and Spain Wonderkid Lamine Yamal

Lamine Yamal broke another record after scoring a stunning strike in Spain’s Euro 2024 semi-final clash against France.

Rooney is the only one of the four to have not won a major honour within his first two years in football but did pick up personal trinkets within his opening two campaigns, picking up the 2004 Golden Boy award as well as the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2002.

When looking at the differences between Yamal and the greats of years gone by, it makes sense to see the Spaniard listed in such high praise among footballing immortality.

All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt and FBREF (Correct as of 15/07/2024).