Lamine Yamal turned down Morocco to defend Spain in the World Cup
One of the biggest names in world football today, Lamine Yamal could be playing in the tournament for a different country. As heir to a father of Moroccan origin and a mother born in Guinea, the Barcelona striker met the legal requirements to apply for citizenship of the African nation, which generated insistent attempts from Moroccan representatives to convince him to play for the team from the African continent.
The top director of the Moroccan football association touched on the subject again shortly after the clash in which Morocco drew with the Brazilian team, which took place last Saturday (13). On that occasion, Fouzi Lekjaa publicly declared his desire to join the Spanish side in the World Cup final, aiming to test whether Lamine Yamal made the right decision by opting for the European team.
It is important to remember that the Moroccan team beat Spain in the round of 16 stage during the 2022 World Cup, reaching the semi-final stage of that competition. At that time, the young man born in Spanish territory was part of Barcelona’s youth squad and was only 14 years old, at which point photographic records of the athlete wearing the Moroccan uniform were shared publicly.
The Spanish federation’s strategy to guarantee the striker’s permanence
With the aim of definitively ending attacks from foreign federations, given that his maternal ancestry also opened a gap to defend Guinea, the Spanish technical committee promoted the athlete’s first call-up when he was 16 years old. In 2023, the player played an outstanding role in the 7-1 victory against Georgia, becoming the youngest athlete to play and score goals for Spain, surpassing the marks previously established by Gavi, his club partner.
Adopting a stance identical to that used in the case of Nico Williams, who has family ties to Ghana, the Royal Spanish Football Federation selected Lamine Yamal in an official clash to undermine the African country’s competition. According to the criteria in force in FIFA regulations, from the moment a professional accumulates four appearances for a nation in competitive games, the bond becomes irreversible, sealing the young man’s permanence in the team.
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The athlete himself spoke publicly at the time about the repercussions of his choice in his professional career. Lamine Yamal stated that the results on the field made clear his satisfaction with the stance adopted, reinforcing the feeling of happiness and projecting a lasting bond of sporting achievements wearing the Spain shirt in the following years.
The monitoring of Barcelona’s young striker reflects the athlete mapping model that the Moroccan federation has been implementing for a decade and a half to strengthen its divisions, following the guidelines for promoting the sport established by the monarch Mohammed VI.
In the clash against Brazil, the Moroccan squad recorded an unprecedented event in the history of the tournament by maintaining, at one point, 11 athletes who were born outside the country’s borders. Shortly after midfielder Ounahi left the field, as he was the only native on the field, the Moroccan squad began to feature players from five different nations.
Considered as one of the main forces to fight for the cup in 2026, the Spanish team plays its first game this Monday (15) in Group H, a bracket that also brings together the teams from Uruguay, Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia. Commander Luis de la Fuente anticipated that Lamine Yamal will start the match among the reserves, as the striker has completed treatment for an injury to his left thigh suffered on April 22 and is taking steps to regain ideal physical condition.
