Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal is celebrating ahead of Spain's Euro 2024 round of 16 match against Georgia on Sunday after successfully passing his school exams.
Yamel, 16, received the good news at Spain's training camp in southern Germany, where he has been combining his education with representing his country in the tournament.
“I just came out of training and they told me everything went well,” Yamal told Spanish radio station Onda Cero. “I passed the exams and I already have the ESO certificate.”
“If I'm honest, I saw them on my phone and it said I passed, so I closed the app, called my mom and told her.”
The results correspond to the fourth year of ESO, which is the last stage of secondary education in Spain, approximately the equivalent of the GCSE exams in the United Kingdom or the high school diploma in the United States.
Yamal, who will turn 17 the day before the Euro 2024 final, had revealed earlier in the tournament that he had brought his duties to the Euros.
“No,” he laughed in an interview with COPE when asked if his teammates made sure he kept up with his schoolwork. “I study on my own, but they make some jokes like 'Go and study now…'
“We have a lot of free time and when I'm in my room with nothing to do, I grab the iPad and do some homework. And when Nico [Williams] and Fermin [López] Call me to play Playstation, I'll go down with them.”
Yamal became the youngest player to ever play in the European Championship in Spain's opening match against Croatia at the age of 16 years and 338 days.
He has participated in all three of Spain's matches in the tournament, helping them advance to the knockout stage as the only team with a 100% winning record. They will face Georgia in Cologne for a place in the quarterfinals this weekend.
In total, he has made 10 international appearances for his country, scoring two goals and providing five assists in those appearances.
The teenager is also already a regular for his club, Barça. Last season he played 50 games for the Catalan team in all competitions.
