Euro 2024 quarter-finals kick off with the battle of the wonderkids Jamal Musiala, 21, and Lamine Yamal, 16, as Spain vs Germany sees teenager who brought his homework go up against England's one who got away

One of them is still in boarding school and took his homework to the Euros, while the other only moved out of his mum’s house recently.

Lamine Yamal, 16, and Jamal Musiala, 21, have a combined age which is less than that of their eldest national team-mates — Manuel Neuer and Jesus Navas are both 38 — yet they hold the key to Spain and Germany’s respective chances of winning the tournament.

In Friday's quarter-final, which is being dubbed ‘the real Euros final’ by many in Germany, the pair will go head-to-head in the biggest game of their nascent careers.

While this is Musiala’s third major tournament, Yamal is at his first — having become Spain’s youngest-ever player last year aged 15. Team-mates of both stars say they are in the presence of something special when it comes to technical ability.

After a clip of Musiala dribbling at an open Germany training session went viral in March, Toni Kroos — having just announced his international comeback — was asked about the youngster’s skills.

‘Even if I had never seen him (Musiala) before, that training session would have been enough for me,’ Kroos admitted. ‘These exceptional players are meant to bring fun to the game. We have to put them in positions in which they can bring joy.’

In Spanish quarters, similar things are said of Yamal, who joined Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy aged seven.

‘There are flashes of Messi,’ said Xavi, who gave him his Barcelona debut in April last year. Messi himself has commented on ‘how easy’ Yamal makes it look with the ball at his feet. One of the most joyous sights of the tournament so far was Yamal and Nico Williams, 21, celebrating a goal against Georgia with a dance, and then playing rock, paper, scissors to determine who could drink water first.

‘Their youth and innocence are contagious for us — that joy they give out,’ said Manchester City midfielder Rodri.

Though Yamal is yet to score (he does have two assists) at the Euros, Musiala lit up the tournament on the opening night against Scotland and is joint-top scorer with three goals in four games for Germany.

Much has been made of how his rise is bittersweet for England, who he could have represented, and for Chelsea, who sold him for a mere £170,000 to Bayern Munich in 2019. His current market value is estimated to be more than £100million.

Yamal, meanwhile, has a release clause in excess of €1billion, and he and fellow winger Williams are credited with having had a transformative influence on the Spain side.

‘They have changed the tiki-taka style that we had for so long. It seemed like that was the only way Spain could play but they have changed that perception,’ says Eduardo Castelao, editor in chief at El Mundo. ‘It’s a breath of fresh air after a long time.’

Insiders at the Spain camp talk about how Yamal doesn’t treat football games as high-pressure occasions, but ‘like he is playing in the school yard with his friends’.

In that, there is a striking similarity with the way Wayne Rooney dazzled at Euro 2004 as an 18-year-old and texted his mates that he had ‘nutmegged Zizou’ after England’s game against France.

For Yamal, who is already the youngest-ever player at the Euros, Friday night would be quite the time to become the youngest-ever goalscorer.

Then the world would see his celebration in which, with his fingers, he forms the number 304 — the postcode for Rocafonda, the neighbourhood in which he was raised. It is one of the most deprived areas in Spain.

When tourists arrive at Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, they are greeted with signs in German that say: ‘The hometown of Jamal Musiala’.

Musiala described that opening night in Munich against Scotland as ‘the match of my life’. A performance and victory in his hometown would top that but even he admits that Yamal’s journey is something else. ‘To be at this level at 16 is crazy,’ said Musiala of the Spaniard.

Already, there is a banner for Yamal at Barcelona home games that states ‘El futuro no espera’, which means ‘The future won’t wait’. With Yamal on the right flank for Spain and Musiala down the left for Germany, Friday night promises to give us a breathtaking view of that future.