Three years ago today — April 29, 2023 — Xavi Hernandez made a substitution in the 83rd minute of a 4-0 win over Real Betis. He took off Gavi and sent on a 15-year-old boy from Rocafonda, Mataró. His name was Lamine Yamal. Nobody knew it then, but football had just changed.


THE DEBUT


Yamal was 15 years, 9 months and 16 days old when he walked onto the Camp Nou pitch that evening — making him the youngest player ever to represent Barcelona's first team. He had barely played for the under-19s. In the seven minutes he was on the pitch, he had a shot on target. That was enough to confirm what everyone at La Masia already knew. The head of the queue had arrived.


2022-23: A TASTE


Yamal's debut came in MD32 of the 2022-23 La Liga season — the title-winning campaign. He was technically still a Barcelona B player. He went on to win his first La Liga title with the club, though he missed the title celebration the following week due to international duty. His first senior trophy. He was 15.


2023-24: BREAKING EVERY RECORD


Under Xavi, Yamal became a first-team regular in his first full season — still technically registered with Barca B for much of it. He made 50 appearances in all competitions, scored 7 goals and became the youngest player ever to reach 50 appearances for Barcelona. He scored the youngest-ever goal in the Supercopa de España at 16 years and 182 days. He became the youngest goalscorer in Copa del Rey history. He broke record after record not just at the club but in Spain and Europe — all before turning 17.


In the summer of 2024, Yamal went to the Euros with Spain and produced one of the great tournament performances in recent memory. He became the youngest player ever to appear in the European Championship, at 16 years and 338 days, surpassing Poland's Kacper Kozlowski's previous record set at Euro 2020. He scored a stunning curling effort against France in the semi-final — the youngest-ever goalscorer in the tournament's history. He then assisted Mikel Oyarzabal's winner in the final against England. Spain were champions of Europe. Yamal turned 17 the day before the final.


At the Ballon d'Or ceremony in October 2024, Yamal won the Kopa Trophy for the best player in the world under 21. He was 17.


2024-25: THE TREBLE


Under Hansi Flick, Yamal became the best player in the world — full stop. He scored 18 goals and provided 21 assists across all competitions as Barcelona won a domestic treble — La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de España. He became the youngest player ever to score in an El Clasico. He became the youngest player to reach 100 appearances for Barcelona. He was runner-up to Ousmane Dembele in the 2025 Ballon d'Or — the youngest player ever to finish second in the award's history. He won the Kopa Trophy for a second successive year — the first player ever to win it twice. And in the summer of 2025, on his 18th birthday, he was handed the Barcelona number 10 shirt — the jersey of Lionel Messi.


2025-26: CONTINUING THE RUN


Yamal's third full season has been another extraordinary one. He scored his first career hat-trick on February 28, 2026 in a 4-1 home win over Villarreal. He has 15 La Liga goals and 13 assists in the league this season — and his UCL goal against Atletico in the quarter-final second leg was his seventh in seven knockout-phase appearances this campaign. In January 2026 he won the Laureus World Young Sportsperson of the Year award — the first winner of the newly created category. He was introduced at the ceremony by Thiago Alcantara.


The only shadow over this anniversary is an injury — a Grade 2 hamstring tear in his left leg suffered against Celta Vigo on April 22 that will rule him out for the rest of the season. He will miss the El Clasico on May 10. He will not be there when Barcelona lift the La Liga title. He broke down in tears in the dressing room. "This injury has sidelined me at the very moment I most wanted to be on the field," he said. "It hurts not being able to fight alongside my teammates."


But Yamal will be back. Barcelona expect him to be fit in time for Spain's World Cup opener against Cape Verde on June 15 in Atlanta. There will be more records. More goals. More nights that make you stop and think — three years ago, a 15-year-old came off the bench against Betis.


And nothing has been the same since.