Lamine Yamal removed from the list of the best U18 players in the world

Yamal is in better form than his peers.

The CIES Football Observatory has just released a list of the 10 best players under the age of 18. The agency manages exclusive statistics from more than 60 countries around the world. According to CIES, the value taken into account when compiling the list is the balance between defending, passing and attacking ability.

However, Yamal was not included despite being only 17 years old. "Yamal was excluded from this study because his performance exceeded expectations," AS wrote. Over the past year, Yamal has developed significantly, winning Euro 2024 with the Spanish team and becoming a mainstay of Barcelona.

On August 31, Yamal had two assists in Barca's 7-0 win over Valladolid in round 4 of La Liga. Since the beginning of the season, Yamal has contributed to 5 goals in just 4 appearances (1 goal, 4 assists).

Returning to the list of the best U18 players in the world, the top 6 players are playing in South American national championships including Tobias Palacio (Argentinos Juniors), Gabriel Carvalho (Internacional), Diego Leon (Cerro Porteno), Mastantuono (River Plate), Estevao Willian (Palmeiras) and Kendry Paez (Independiente del Valle).

Kendry Paez, Estevao Willian and Mastantuono played important roles for the clubs they played for. Mastantuono was being pursued by many European clubs, while Chelsea soon successfully recruited Estevao Willian and Kendry Paez.

10 best U18 players today, according to CIES

The highest rated European player is Sverre Nypan in 7th place. The young Norwegian talent plays for Rosenborg. He is followed by another Norwegian talent, Faniel Tewelde. The duo of Marin Mundaca (Chile) and Spiten-Nysaeter (Norway) are in the last two positions.

Most of the players on the list are attacking players, with the exception of Diego Leen and Tobias Palacio, who are defenders. The young South American talents all play for the region's biggest clubs.

In contrast, the three European players playing in the league are not rated too highly. Nypan plays in the Norwegian national championship, while Tewelde and Spiten-Nysaeter play in the Belgian and Norwegian second divisions respectively.

The list shows the huge influence of young players from South America. However, Norway also shows great potential in developing young talent. Three of the top 10 U18 players today, if not from South America, were born in the Nordic country.