As with Kylian Mbappé, we must not speak of age with Lamine Yamal. The CIES football observatory has published a ranking of the 200 best players under the age of 20 in the world, based on their performances, their playing time and the importance of the matches played. Unsurprisingly, the Spanish prodigy Lamine Yamal (18) dominates this classification with an impressive note of 97.7, rewarding an exceptional season where he imposed himself as a leader in FC Barcelona, especially in the Champions League, and as a cornerstone of Roja. The central defender Pau Cubars (18), another young talent from Barça, takes second place with 93.4, while the middle of PSG Warren Zaïre-Emery (19 years old) completes the podium with 87.8 points.
The rest of the top 10 highlights other major promises, such as the Brazilian winger Estevão (4th, 87.7 points), freshly arrived in Chelsea, Franco Mastantuono (5th, 85.4 points), new recruit from Real Madrid, or Jorrel Hato, ex-Ajax, also transferred to Chelsea (6th, 84 points). There is also Roger Fernandes, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Geovany Quenda and Elías Montiel, the only player of the top 10 not to evolve in Europe. Other young hopes such as Jobe Bellingham, Lucas Bergvall, Rodrigo Mora or Leny Yoro appear in the Top 50, confirming the rise of a generation already ready to take the reins of world football.
