Lamine Yamal takes Spain’s famous number 10 shirt for Nations League decider

Lamine Yamal will wear Spain’s number 10 shirt against England after Luis de la Fuente submitted his final 23-man squad to Uefa for the Nations League meeting.

The match will determine which side finishes top of the group, while the runners-up will enter the quarter-finals in second place and play the second leg away from home.

De la Fuente had to leave out only four players from the 28-man training camp at Las Rozas, according to Spanish newspaper Marca. Alejandro Grimaldo departed on Wednesday evening after being affected by a viral infection which had spread among several members of the Spain squad during the week.

Alvaro Baies, Jacobo Ramon, De Frutos and Roberto Fernandez will therefore watch the game from the stands at Riyadh Air Metropolitano.

The group includes the fourth-choice goalkeeper, who was called up because of problems with Raya joining the camp at the start, as well as one of the players in contention to make his international debut. It also features the centre-back who plays for Como, and forwards De Frutos and Roberto Fernandez, both of whom were given playing time in the match against Braga.

The most significant decision, however, concerned the squad numbers. With Mikel Oyarzabal and Yamal returning, there had been uncertainty over whether the Barcelona forward would give up the number 19 shirt he usually wears for Spain and take the vacant number 10, made available by Dani Olmo’s injury.

Yamal has now been given the iconic shirt, previously worn by figures including Pele, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Michel Platini, Luka Modric, Zinedine Zidane of France and Zico.

It is not the first time the teenager has worn number 10 for Spain. He was handed it in October 2024 during a period when the national side were missing several players, including Olmo.

Yamal wore the shirt in the 1-0 victory over Denmark in Murcia, with Martin Zubimendi scoring the only goal. Three days later, he missed the 3-0 win against Serbia in Cordoba because of muscular problems, and Rodrigo Riquelme took number 10 in his place.

The shirt has strong links with Cesc Fabregas, who wore it during Spain’s first golden era between 2008 and 2012. After the current Como manager left the national team, following Julen Lopetegui’s appointment in September 2016, a succession of players used the number before it became Dani Olmo’s.

Thiago Alcantara was the first to wear it after Fabregas and retained it while playing under Luis Enrique. Marco Asensio wore it at the World Cup in Qatar, while Sergio Canales, Carlos Soler, Sergi Roberto, Pedri and Dani Ceballos also followed.

Ceballos was the first player to receive number 10 under De la Fuente. Yeremy Pino was given it after an emergency call-up in September 2023, while Bryan Zaragoza also wore it after being summoned to replace an injured player.

Nico Williams, Olmo, Pepelu, Yamal, Riquelme, Jesus Rodriguez and Victor Munoz have also worn the number.