Spain star Lamine Yamal has named Brazilian icon Neymar as his idol. The Barcelona youngster snubbed Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when discussing his favourite players to watch.
The 18-year-old will hope to propel Spain to victory over Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Yamal has been working his way back to full fitness and made his World Cup debut off the bench in his country’s shock draw with Cape Verde on Monday.
The teenager, who won the Euros with Spain in 2024, was second in last year’s Ballon d’Or rankings, a prestigious individual award that Messi and Ronaldo have won a combined 13 times. However, Yamal overlooked two of the all-time best when discussing the player he most enjoys watching, outside of his team-mates.
“Neymar. I always enjoy watching Neymar play,” Yamal admitted during a fan Q&A on his YouTube channel. “He’s my idol.”
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The Sapin international also name-checked Manchester City duo Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki. It is not the first time that Yamal has spoken about his admiration for Neymar.
“Neymar is a player who marked my entire childhood,” he said in April. “He is my idol.
“I will always be grateful for everything he has given to football. He always inspires us. He’s one of those players you pay a ticket just to watch him play.”
Yamal hoped ex-Barcelona icon Neymar would be named in Brazil’s World Cup squad and subsequently got his wish, despite the Santos captain dealing with an injury. It means the Spanish prodigy could face the 34-year-old in the latter stages of the tournament.
Yamal has also shown a healthy respect for Messi, who began his World Cup campaign with a hat-trick against Algeria. However, the winger explained that he does not model his game on the Argentina captain.
View 2 ImagesNeymar was named in Brazil’s World Cup squad, despite dealing with an injury (Image: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
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“I respect him, in the end for what’s he’s been, for what he is to football, and if we ever meet on a pitch, there will be that mutual respect because we are players and because, for me, he’s the best in history,” he told CBS’ 60 Minutes in December 2025. “He also knows I am a player and I respect him, so it’s mutual respect.
“We both know I don’t want to be Messi and Messi knows I don’t want to be him. I want to follow my path and that’s it. I don’t have the intention of playing like him or wearing the No.10 that Messi wore or anything like that.”
The Barcelona star echoed similar thoughts about Ronaldo ahead of facing Portugal in the Nations League final last year. “Cristiano is a legend and we all have a lot of respect for him, but I will do my job, which is to win the match,” he said in June 2025.
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Yamal will currently be focused on guiding Spain to an important World Cup win over Saudi Arabia in Group H. He played a crucial role in Barcelona winning La Liga last season, scoring 16 goals and providing 12 assists in 28 games.
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