Lamine Yamal once again showed that age is nothing but a number, and Spain should be thanking their lucky stars for that after a wild UEFA Nations League semifinal win over France.
Spain claimed a thrilling 5-4 victory on Thursday at the MHPArena in Stuttgart, Germany, but had to hold on for dear life after watching 4-0 and 5-1 leads dissolve in the game’s final 30 minutes. Yamal struck twice for Spain, including what turned out to be a vital game-winner as France’s astounding push for a late comeback fell just short.
Earlier on Thursday, Yamal was named the U-23 Player of the Year in La Liga, capping off a season in which the 17-year-old attacker put up 18 goals and 25 assists in 55 total appearances for Barcelona. The teenager has been similarly relentless with the national team, as he has six goals and nine assists in 20 games for Spain.
Yamal played a major role in Spain’s first goal, drawing two defenders before clipping a pass inside for center forward Mikel Oyarzabal, who in turn teed Nico Williams up for a 22nd-minute opener. Mikel Merino scored three minutes later to give Spain a 2-0 edge that lasted into the second half.
That’s when a seemingly normal game between two of the sport’s big powers became an unreal spectacle. Yamal got on the scoresheet with a 54th-minute penalty kick, sending France goalkeeper Mike Maignan the wrong way to make it 3-0 in Spain’s favor.
France seemed en route to a historic collapse when Yamal’s club teammate Pedri fired past Maignan just 98 seconds later. Kylian Mbappé struck from the spot in the 59th minute to save France’s blushes, but Yamal was at it again just eight minutes later, sneaking a low effort past Maignan after Pedro Porro’s delicate pass sent him in on goal.
At the time, it seemed like Spain was just pouring it on, but that goal proved critical. Rayan Cherki produced a thunderous volley in the 79th minute, and Spain defender Daniel Vivian had the misfortune of blocking a low cross into his own goal, leaving the score 5-3 after 84 minutes.
Randal Kolo Muani then scored for France in second-half stoppage time, but before Les Bleus could complete one of the all-time great comebacks, full time arrived with Spain somehow still in front.
La Roja will now advance to Sunday’s UEFA Nations League final, in which they will face Portugal (who beat host Germany 2-1 on Tuesday, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the game-winner). That match is set for a 3 p.m. ET kickoff, with Allianz Arena in Munich the venue.
Lamine Yamal highlights: Spain 5, France 4 in UEFA Nations League
What is UEFA Nations League?
The UEFA Nations League is an international soccer tournament for European national teams.
Essentially, UEFA — which has huge powers like Spain and France, but also tiny nations like Gibraltar or Andorra to account for — wanted to make sure teams had more games against opponents that were roughly of similar quality. At the same time, powerful clubs on the continent wanted their players traveling shorter distances when on international duty, with long flights across the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans cited as a cause for wear and tear.
The solution was the Nations League, which separates Europe’s men’s national teams into four tiers. Leagues A, B and C all feature 16 teams playing in round-robin groups, with A being the pinnacle of the tournament. Teams that win their groups or succeed in promotion playoffs can move up to a higher level, while strugglers are relegated down a tier for the next edition.
League D, meanwhile, includes six of the smallest nations in Europe, with San Marino — whose win over Liechtenstein was the country’s first in any men’s soccer competition since 2004 — clinching a place in League C after finishing atop a three-team group with Gibraltar and Liechtenstein.
