ARLINGTON — Lamine Yamal is hoping to emulate Kylian Mbappe by winning the World Cup as a teenager, but first his Spain side will have to get the better of France and their superstar captain in Tuesday’s semi-final.

When Mbappe scored in France’s win over Croatia in the deciding match of the 2018 tournament, he was just 19 years and 207 days old. He therefore became only the second teenager to score in a World Cup final after a 17-year-old Pele in 1958.

Mbappe’s love affair with the World Cup began then, while this is Yamal’s first experience of the competition.

He has already had his big breakthrough in a major tournament, however — Yamal’s stunning goal in the Euro 2024 semi-final against Mbappe’s France helped Spain to a 2-1 victory.

That came four days before he turned 17. His birthday was the day before the final. Spain beat England, and Yamal was named young player of the tournament.

This time his 19th birthday comes on the eve of the semi-final in Arlington.

Such a young player with his best years to come. But he is clearly eager to leave a firm mark on this World Cup.

Perhaps too eager, having at one point been a doubt for the tournament after missing the end of the season with Barcelona due to a hamstring injury.

“I was afraid it might be serious and, above all, that even if it wasn’t serious, I could suffer a setback and end up missing the World Cup,” Yamal admitted in late May.