Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal has equaled the achievements of Barcelona and Dutch national team legend Johan Cruyff after winning the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards 2026 trophy.
According to Barcelona's website on Tuesday, Yamal received the 2026 Laureus World Sports Awards in the "Young Sportsperson of the Year" category for the world's best U21 athlete. The trophy was presented in Madrid, Spain.
This is the second Laureus World Sports Awards for the 18-year-old player after receiving it in 2025. At that time, Yamal was named "World Breakthrough Sportsperson of the Year".
With these two recognitions, Yamal puts himself on the same level as Johan Cruyff, who also won two Laureus World Sports Awards trophies.
Cruyff received it in 2006 and 2016.
However, Yamal is still behind Barcelona legend Lionel Messi, who has won three Laureus World Sports Awards.
