Lamine Yamal is earning rave reviews for his blistering displays at Euro 2024 and the Spain starlet is breaking plenty of records, too.
At just 16 years of age, the Barcelona attacker became the European Championship’s youngest player ever to appear at a Euros and his goal in Spain’s 2-1 win over France in the semi-finals made him the youngest scorer in the history of the competition as well.
He turned 17-years-old between the semi-final and final and eagled-eyed viewers might have noticed Yamal celebrate with an unusual gesture after scoring against Les Bleus. So what is it all about? FourFourTwo explains…
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Why does Spain’s Lamine Yamal celebrate with a ‘3-0-4’ gesture?
Lamine Yamal grew up just outside Barcelona and has gone on to play first-team football for the Catalan club, making his debut at just 15 and going on to played 50 games in all competitions for the Blaugrana in 2023/24.
More specifically, Yamal hails from Esplugues de Llobregat in Barcelona’s metropolitan area. However, he grew up in an area called Rocafonda, a multicultural neighbourhood which has been described as “forgotten, isolated and stigmatised” by Spanish newspaper El País.
Yamal is proud of his upbringing and his roots, having grown up in a cultural melting pot where people work hard and stick together – values instilled in him from a young age by his Equatorial Guinean mother and Moroccan father.
Rocafonda’s postal code is 08304 and Yamal’s celebration makes reference to the place where he grew up.
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Spain’s Lamine Yamal walking across the pitch during his side’s Euro 2024 win against Croatia. (Image credit: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
It has been a huge hit with young kids in the area who are watching his performances at Euro 2024 with pride and was repeated in the Parliament of Andalucía by politician José Manuel Gómez Jurado in response to an anti-immigration speech by Purificación Fernández, from far-right party Vox.
The number 304 is printed on his boots too, alongside flags from the countries where his parents were born, and his Instagram account username also has featured 304 at the end.
Yamal started for Spain in the final against England, looking to become the youngest footballer in history to win a major international tournament.
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