‘What has Lamine Yamal actually shown? He is not the best 19-year-old in the world’ | Goal.com

Published on 04 Aug 2026 | Reading time: 1 minute

Luke Littler has declared himself, in an interview with The Sun, to be the best sportsman of the year so far. The English darts player was also asked about Lamine Yamal and did not hold back on the Spanish wonderkid.

The English tabloid asked the 19-year-old world number one if he is currently the most dominant sportsman. Littler found that hard to judge and also pointed to tennis player Jannik Sinner as one of the contenders.

"Of course Spain have won the World Cup and everyone is talking about Yamal," the Englishman begins about the FC Barcelona forward.

"But what has he actually really shown now? He may have scored once at the World Cup and only provided one assist as well," Littler says.

"Is he the best 19-year-old in the world? No, he is not," the darts player continues, showing plenty of faith in his own qualities. "As long as I keep winning, play well and pick up trophies, that's the only thing that matters."

For Barcelona, Yamal was influential again last season. Despite injury problems, he produced 16 goals and 12 assists in 28 La Liga matches. At the World Cup, he managed one goal and one assist.

His trophy haul is already impressive. With Barcelona, he became league champion three times, won the Spanish Super Cup twice and lifted the Copa del Rey once. With Spain, he won both the European Championship and the World Cup.

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