Before La Roja tackle their last-16 assignment in Cologne, Yamal discovered he had passed the country's school exams end-of-secondaryStill studying when the tournament began in Germany on June 14, he shone in Spain's first two matches and was rested for the majority of the third with the team already through top of Group B.
While thoughts started to drift towards the knockout stage, the right-winger was still waiting on his results.
"I came out from the training session and was told it all went well," Yamal said on June 27.
"I saw the grades on my phone and I had passed so I just closed the app, called my mum." Spain aced their "Group of Death" examination, overcoming Croatia, Italy and Albania to finish the opening phase with a 100 per cent record and three clean sheets.
"Everything we've done in the group phase serves for nothing if on Sunday they knock us out," warned Yamal.
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