MADRID – Morocco are not still trying to persuade Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal to play for them and they respect his decision to represent Spain, the Moroccan football federation said on Tuesday.
Yamal, who has a Moroccan father, was born and raised in Spain and has become a key part of Barca’s forward line and made his senior debut for Spain in September.
Spanish newspaper AS reported on Tuesday that Morocco, who will stage the 2030 World Cup along with Spain and Portugal, are trying to convince Yamal to switch allegiance. The report said he had previously rejected a financial offer to play for Morocco.
“The Royal Moroccan Federation confirms that what was stated in this article is false and not based on any evidence, as we have respected the choices of the player Lamine Yamal, like other players of Moroccan origin who chose other teams,” the Moroccan federation said in a statement.
Fifa rules say that players can switch international allegiance as long as they have made fewer than three appearances for a country before the age of 21 and have not played for that nation for at least three years.
AS also reported that Spanish-born Real Madrid midfielder Brahim Diaz has opted for Morocco over Spain.
Yamal needs to play one more game for Spain before he is unable to switch to Morocco. The Spain winger became La Liga’s youngest goalscorer aged 16 years and 87 days when he netted for Barcelona against Granada on Sunday.
Yamal, who in August set the record as Barca’s youngest debutant in an official match, became Spain’s youngest ever international and scorer at 16 years and 57 days when he made his debut away to Georgia in a Euro 2024 qualifier in September.
Against Granada, he scored in first-half stoppage time when La Liga champions Barcelona were trailing 2-0. The match ended 2-2.
Yamal broke the record held by Malaga's Fabrice Olinga, who scored against Celta Vigo in 2012 aged 16 years and 98 days.
Yamal has played two matches with Spain, but injury kept him out of the squad preparing to face Scotland and Norway in Euro 2024 qualifiers in October.
Uncapped Athletic Bilbao midfielder Oihan Sancet, however, is involved and he is backing Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, having played under him in Spain’s youth ranks.
Sancet told AS: “I had him in the Under-18s and Under-21s. He is a great coach with a very clear idea of the game, one that transmits a lot of confidence to the players.”
Spain’s clash against runaway Group A leaders Scotland on Thursday could be key to who top the group. The Scots shocked Spain 2-0 in Glasgow in March.
Scotland assistant coach John Carver told Sky Sports: “We will need more away from home because their side have definitely improved and we will need to deal with that.
“We’ll need the same attitude, the same commitment, the same organisation and the same philosophy in the sense of: we’ll defend when we need to defend and then we’ll try and counter-attack if we can’t.” REUTERS
