The 19-year-old Barcelona winger is averaging 12 successful dribbles per ninety minutes, the highest rate for any player with more than 200 minutes of action at a single World Cup since Okocha achieved the same figure for Nigeria at France 1998.
Okocha’s campaign that year included a standout performance in Nigeria’s famous 3-2 comeback win over Spain in Nantes, where he completed nine dribbles, created two chances and delivered three crosses.
FIFA revisited the match statistics and awarded him a retrospective Player of the Match prize earlier this year, 28 years after the game. He also holds the all-time record for most dribbles in a single World Cup match—15 against Italy in 1994.
Yamal has started every match for Spain at the 2026 finals, with the team winning all eight matches he has started at major tournaments—a perfect record for any European player.
He and teammate Pau Cubarsi also became the first teenage pair to start a World Cup knockout match together since Pelé and Altafini in 1958.
Spain beat Austria comfortably in the round of 32, and Yamal, who returned from a hamstring injury in April, is now firmly established as the team’s attacking focal point heading into the last 16.
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