Lamine Yamal Follows in Lionel Messi’s Footsteps With Prestigious Individual Award
Lamine Yamal may only be 18 years old, but he’s already got two Laureus awards to his name, a feat only matched in the world of soccer by Lionel Messi.
Barcelona’s star forward won the first-ever Young Sportsperson of the Year award at the Laureus World Sports Awards on Monday, establishing himself as the best athlete under the age of 21 and marking back-to-back honors for the prodigiou star following his win of Breakthrough Sportsperson of the Year in 2025.
“I am very happy to be the first to receive this award for the best young athlete,” Yamal said from the Cibeles Palace in Madrid. “It’s a source of pride. I wanted to thank the [Laureus] Academy; all the legends who have voted for me and that are here; my two brothers who are sitting there; Jorge [Mendes, Yamal’s agent], who has always accompanied me; my team; my mother who is taking care of my brother at home; my father; my grandmother; obviously my teammates and the staff.
“I am very happy. I hope that this serves to keep going, to move forward. I still have a long way to go.”
Yamal also couldn’t help but praise former Barcelona legend Messi, expressing his desire to follow in his footsteps.
Lamine Yamal Lauds Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi has two Laureus awards to his name. / Antoine Flament/WireImage
Messi also has two Laureus awards in his trophy cabinet, winning his first World Sportsman of the Year award in 2020 while playing for Barcelona, becoming the first soccer player to do ever do so. He won it again in 2023, making him the only team-sport athlete to win it twice. The Inter Miami captain is still the only soccer player to have ever won the award.
There is no doubt that Yamal has his sights set on the Laureus World Sports Award’s most prestigious accolade, given to the man who exhibits the highest level of athletic performance and achievement globally. Tennis phenom Carlos Alcaraz took the prize in 2026.
“For me, Messi is the best player in history,” Yamal added on Monday. “I don’t know if he’s the best player in all sports, but if not, he’s close. He’s an idol. Everyone respects him for everything he’s done. He’s been a part of the childhood of all the kids who played at school, in the park.
“I hope I can follow in his footsteps and have another one of those [trophies] in my house.”
🖊️ Lamine Yamal signs his name in Laureus World Sports Awards history.#Laureus26 | @FCBarcelona_cat @LaLiga pic.twitter.com/i3b8Pqa19v
— Laureus (@LaureusSport) April 20, 2026
Yamal has openly hailed Messi many times in the past, expressing his desire to use the Argentine legend’s success as a blueprint for his own journey.
“Lionel Messi is indeed the greatest player in history for me,” Yamal said last July. “We’re both left-footed. He played for Barça, and so do I. We do have many similarities, but I want to walk my own path.
“I hope I can have a career as successful as his, but I only think about playing in my own way, writing my own history and having people remember the name ‘Lamine Yamal.’”
Yamal, who leads Barcelona with 15 goals and 11 assists this season as they close in on La Liga victory, is well on his way. He also won the 2025 Kopa Award just seven months ago—his second-consecutive win—and recently rewrote Champions League history, becoming the youngest player to ever record 20 goal contributions in the premier European competition.
