Teen star Yamal nets stunner as Spain goes through
Lamine Yamal etched his name in history with a record-breaking goal before Dani Olmo fired Spain into the Euro 2024 final with a 2-1 victory over France.
Yamal produced a remarkable long-range equaliser shortly after Randal Kolo Muani's ninth-minute opener in the first semi-final in Munich, the 16 year-old becoming the youngest scorer at a major tournament in history.
In-form Olmo then delivered the decisive strike midway through the opening half, manufacturing space inside Les Bleus' area before squeezing a low effort home.
Didier Deschamps' side had been unconvincing before this last-four meeting, and though it improved in the second half, it was unable to find a leveller as Spain teed up a meeting with either Netherlands or England.
Luis de la Fuente's Roja entered this clash as the only team to win all five games at the tournament (including extra time), and another dominant start saw them go close within five minutes.
Yamal was afforded far too much time to clip towards the back post for an unmarked Fabian Ruiz, who could only head over with Mike Maignan's goal at his mercy.
Yet France struck the first blow just three minutes later when the now-unmasked Kylian Mbappe stood up Jesus Navas before delivering from the left for Kolo Muani to head past the helpless Unai Simon.
Yamal single-handedly dragged La Roja back into the contest, however, shifting the ball away from Adrien Rabiot before curling a sumptuous strike into the top-left corner from 25 yards out.
Spurred on by that historic moment, Spain completed the turnaround within four further minutes as Olmo pounced on Navas's half-cleared cross before finishing past Maignan, with Jules Kounde unable to clear on the line.
Maignan was somewhat fortunate moments after the interval, mindlessly racing towards the touchline to challenge Nico Williams, who would have been clean through without the goalkeeper's questionable lunge.
Les Bleus improved from then on, though, with a free Aurelien Tchouameni heading straight at Simon from Ousmane Dembele's right-sided corner after 52 minutes.
Theo Hernandez wasted a gilt-edged opportunity to equalise with 15 minutes remaining, blazing over from the edge of the area before Mbappe followed suit 10 minutes later, as Spain held on to reach its fifth Euros final.
At the age of 16 years and 362 days, Yamal made history by becoming the youngest-ever player to appear in a semi-final at a major international tournament, a record previously held by Brazil's Pele (17 years, 244 days versus France at the 1958 World Cup).
Yet the Barcelona winger was not satisfied with that record, delivering a remarkable leveller to surpass Pele – who found the net aged 17 years and 239 days against Wales at the 1958 World Cup – as the youngest scorer in history at either major tournament.
His teenage brilliance helped inspire Spain to its sixth straight win at the Euros, a feat never achieved by any team previously, while La Roja are also the first side to win six matches in a single European Championship tournament (including extra time, but not penalties).
However, Yamal cannot take all the credit as Olmo – with three goals and two assists – became the first Spain player to manage five-plus goal contributions at a single tournament since David Silva during their victorious Euro 2012 campaign (two goals, three assists).