Sometimes football gives us stories that seem straight out of a video game. At 19 years and 6 days old, Lamine Yamal has just inscribed his name in the annals of the beautiful game in a way he probably did not expect just months ago. The Barcelona winger has become the youngest player in history to play in both a Euros final and a World Cup final, according to mundodeportivo.com. A record that no one under 20 had achieved before.

From Euros to World Cup: a dizzying trajectory

The thing is, Lamine had already unleashed a genuine storm of records barely a year ago at the Euros. At just 16 years old, he arrived at the tournament as the youngest footballer ever seen at a Euros. And not only that: he also became the youngest goalscorer in history of the tournament and the youngest player to win a major international championships.

Now, barely twelve months later, he breaks the mould again. This teenager of just nineteen years takes his place in a World Cup final as if it were nothing, as if it were not extraordinary that he achieved it.

The academy that explains it all: La Masia continues producing talent

Here is where it gets interesting. Lamine is not an isolated case. In that same World Cup final, Barcelona appears again with another of its products: Pau Cubarsí, at 19 years and 179 days, becomes the second youngest defender in history to play in a World Cup final.

There is only one name ahead in that record. Giuseppe Bergomi, who at 18 years and 249 days played in the Spain '82 final and even took it home. Almost half a century later, Barcelona once again proves that La Masia remains an unparalleled academy:

• Lamine Yamal: youngest to play in both a Euros final and a World Cup final simultaneously
• Pau Cubarsí: second youngest defender in a World Cup final
• Spain and Barcelona: two institutions that produce phenomena at ever younger ages

What does this really mean?

Beyond the numbers, which are already astounding in themselves, this speaks to something deeper. We are facing footballers who not only have extraordinary talent, but also carry a football maturity that should be impossible at their age. Lamine plays major tournaments as if he has been doing it for years. He has no fear. He does not tremble.

For Spain it means having two Barcelona players who can make the difference in a final. For world football, it is a warning: the next decade will belong to these young lads. For us, the fans, it is simply a privilege to see Lamine Yamal write his legend in real time.

The question we all ask ourselves is inevitable: how far will this kid go?