Lamine Yamal nearly played for Morocco instead of Spain

Lamine Yamal, crown jewel for FC Barcelona and Spain at only 17, nearly ended up playing for Morocco instead. Yamal has been been playing for Spanish youth teams since 2021, and debuted with the senior team in September 2023, at only 16. One year later, he became UEFA Euro champion.

However, his father, as well as Moroccan government, pressured the Spanish Football Federation to convince the teenager to play for Moroccan's national squad. Albert Luque, former sporting director at the Spanish national team, explained it to the Spanish radio station Cadena Ser.

Yamal was born in Esplugues de Llobregat, in the Barcelona metropolitan area, from a Moroccan gather and a Equatorial Guinean mother. His father told Luque that "they would kill me in Morocco" if his son played for Spain. "He was the one who finds it hardest to to convince and he tolds me things that are best left unsaid", said Luque.

However, Luque remembers that when he talked to Yamal, he told him that "something that reassured me: 'Albert, I want to be European champion, they're putting pressure on me from all sides but I want to play for Spain'".

Rules allow players to choose where to play if they have parents from different countries. That's what happened with another Spanish player, Brahim Díaz from Real Madrid, who chose to play with Morocco instead of Spain.

Luque was interviewed shortly after being found not guilty of coercion against Jenni Hermoso due to the Rubiales case, although prosecutors asked for the trial to be repeated, saying that the judge was not impartial. In the interview, he told another anecdote regarding Sergio Ramos's anger after being excluded from the team.