Yamal handed Spain's No 10 shirt for the England match, joining the ranks of Pele and Messi

Lamine Yamal's name has now been woven into the same thread as football's legends. The young Barcelona forward will take the field wearing Spain's traditional No 10 shirt in the important match against England.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has announced a final 23-man squad for the UEFA Nations League match against England. The result of this match will decide the top spot in the group, while the runners-up will have to play the second leg of the quarter-final away from home.

According to the Spanish outlet Marca, De la Fuente dropped four players from the 28 who were in the national team camp. Alejandro Grimaldo had already left the camp after contracting a viral infection. The four dropped are Alvaro Carreras, Jacobo Ramon, De Frutos and Roberto Fernandez.

But it is the shirt numbers that have drawn the most discussion after the squad announcement. Spain's No 10 shirt was vacant because of Dani Olmo's injury, and Yamal, who normally wears No 19, has now been given the No 10.

In football history, the No 10 shirt carries special prestige. Legends such as Pele, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Michel Platini, Luka Modric, Zinedine Zidane and Zico have graced the field wearing it. Yamal is now becoming part of that tradition.

This is not, however, the first time Yamal will wear the No 10 for Spain. He first received the shirt in October 2024, when several players were absent. Spain won that match against Denmark in Murcia 1-0, with Martin Zubimendi scoring the winning goal.

Three days later, Yamal could not play against Serbia because of a muscle problem. Rodrigo Riquelme wore the No 10 in his place, and Spain won that match 3-0.

For a long time, the name associated with Spain's No 10 shirt was Cesc Fabregas. He wore it as a member of Spain's golden generation from 2008 to 2012. Fabregas left the national team after Julen Lopetegui took charge of Spain in September 2016.

Since then, Thiago Alcantara, Marco Asensio, Sergio Canales, Carlos Soler, Sergi Roberto, Pedri and Dani Ceballos have also worn the No 10 shirt. Ceballos was the first to receive it under De la Fuente. Yeremy Pino, Bryan Zaragoza, Rodrigo Riquelme and Nico Williams have also worn it at different times. At present, however, the regular holder of Spain's No 10 shirt is Dani Olmo; in his absence, that responsibility now falls to Yamal.