Robert Lewandowski on Lamine Yamal's Future Potential
Robert Lewandowski has seen Lamine Yamal at full throttle. And in his eyes, the World Cup in the United States barely scratched the surface.
Speaking to ESPN, the former Barcelona striker was clear: this was not the definitive version of Spain’s teenage phenomenon.
“Honestly, no, we didn't [see his best this tournament],” Lewandowski said, before pointing back in time. For him, the highest level Yamal has hit so far didn’t come last season, but two seasons ago. That, he insisted, was “the best version of Lamine Yamal.”
The explanation is blunt and simple: rhythm.
Yamal arrived at the World Cup on the back of an injury and a long spell on the sidelines. He had not played for around eight weeks. Then, suddenly, he was thrown into the most intense competition on the planet, with barely any time to train properly, just rolling from one game into the next.
In those circumstances, many teenagers would have vanished under the weight of expectation. Yamal didn’t.
Lewandowski highlighted how, even short of full sharpness, the winger still flashed his quality and slotted into a Spain side that looked built for the future as much as the present. The understanding between the youngster and his team-mates impressed him as much as the individual talent.
“The Spain players and the team helped Lamine and Lamine also helped the whole team. I think that this cooperation was perfect,” Lewandowski reflected, underlining how quickly Yamal has become a functioning part of an elite international setup rather than just a precocious sideshow.
That bond with the Spain squad ran deeper than tactical chemistry for Lewandowski. With Poland absent from the tournament, he watched the final with a clear preference. He wanted La Roja to topple Argentina.
His reasoning cut straight back to his Barcelona years.
“I know a lot of players from Spain and I spent so much time in Barcelona with them, so I supported them a lot,” he said. Argentina, by contrast, was represented in his world by a single, towering figure. “Of course, I know from Argentina personally only Leo, but I know that he won the last World Cup.”
So his choice was made. Familiar faces over the defending champions. Dressing-room memories over the romance of a repeat triumph for Lionel Messi.
“That’s why I support the Spanish national team because if you play with them, you spend a lot of time together then it's easier to support this team,” Lewandowski explained. He felt Spain were ready, too. Young, fearless, and with what he called the future “in front of them.”
For Yamal, that future now swings back to club football. After his international exertions and a brief summer pause, the focus will be on rebuilding his physical base and rediscovering that peak version Lewandowski remembers so vividly. Barcelona will expect him not just to sparkle in moments, but to carry games, weeks and months at a time.
Lewandowski’s own path has veered in a very different direction. While Yamal returns to Camp Nou, the veteran has crossed the Atlantic to start again in MLS with Chicago Fire. He has already made his debut against Inter Miami CF, stepping straight into a league increasingly shaped by big names and big expectations.
At 35-plus, he is not treating this as a farewell tour. He made that clear, setting out his ambition to be decisive from the outset: “I'm ready to do this and try to help my team-mates and new club take the next step, and also to win some titles.”
One career is ramping up, the other entering its final chapters. Yet they remain linked by a shared dressing room in Barcelona and by the memory of a teenager who, in Lewandowski’s mind, still has another gear to find.
If the version he calls “the best Lamine” returns in full, the question for Spain and Barcelona won’t be whether Yamal can lead them. It will be how far he can drag them with him.
