Official: Barcelona star Lamine Yamal wins Superior Player of the Match award as Spain eliminates Austria | OneFootball

Several FC Barcelona players, including the likes of Lamine Yamal and Pedri, have managed to make it through to the Round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup. Most recently, key players such as Yamal, Pedri, Dani Olmo, Pau Cubarsi, Ferran Torres, Joan Garcia, Gavi, and Eric Garcia have all qualified to the next round following Spain’s victory over Austria.

The aforementioned victory was a 3-0 thrashing of their fellow European side in the Round of 32. Impressively, a certain Barça star managed to accomplish more than just simply helping his team win this crucial game.

As confirmed officially by FIFA, 18-year-old Spanish winger Lamine Yamal has been awarded the Superior Player of the Match award, which is awarded to the most impressive player in any particular game. This is a fan-voted award, so it seems that the majority of voters believe Yamal was the game’s man of the moment.

Throughout the 86 minutes that he was on the field, the Barcelona superstar lit up the pitch with his magic and trickery. While he did not end up getting a direct goal involvement, his importance to this Spanish side simply cannot be overstated.

He had a total of 60 touches in this game, 14 of which were inside the opposition’s box and that is the highest number any player had on the field. Moreover, he maintained a 90% passing accuracy across 31 attempted passes, and created two chances as well.

Yamal also had four shots on target, and was quite unfortunate not to have been on the scoresheet. Courtesy of Austria’s stubborn defense, several of his best attempts were ultimately blocked or denied by the opposition players.

However, perhaps the one individual who suffered the most against Yamal in this game was Bayern Munich’s Konrad Laimer. Tasked with dealing with Yamal, he often had help from other teammates but still ended up struggling against the young winger.

With five of his eight dribbles completed in this game, Yamal managed to boast an impressive 62% dribble success rate, and his completed dribbles themselves were the highest number for any player in this game. That just goes to show how lethal and influential Yamal has been for Spain, and his influence continues to boost their chances at this tournament.

Even Barcelona legend and Spain’s World Cup hero Andres Iniesta admitted recently that the team’s tournament hopes rely heavily upon on the performances of the young winger. Fortunately for Spain, Yamal continues to deliver on the biggest stage of them all.