Lamine Yamal reveals the meaning behind his 304 celebration

Tom Weber

• 2 Dec 2025 03:30 CST
• 4 min read

News

Most high-profile attackers in football have their own celebration, and Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal is no different.

Since bursting on the scene as a 15-year-old in 2023, the Spain international has become one of the most recognisable faces in global sports. Still only 18, Yamal is already a Ballon d'Or runner-up, a domestic treble winner with Barcelona and a European champion with Spain.

To say that the wonderkid is brimming with confidence would be an understatement. Earlier this season, the teenager began celebrating his goals by putting an imaginary crown on his head, illustrative of a player who loves the limelight.

However, Yamal also has a different, considerably more humble signature celebration: the 304, which he has been doing since coming through the Blaugrana academy.

After scoring, Yamal crosses his arms and bends the index finger and thumb of his left hand into a 0, while he keeps the other three fingers straight and hides the thumb of his right hand with the other fingers symbolising the four.

The meaning behind Yamal's celebration

Speaking to CBS, Yamal explained that 304 stands for the postal code of the Rocafonda neighbourhood in Mataro where he grew up. Mataro is the capital of Maresme County, just north of Barcelona.

"It's the symbol for our neighbourhood's zip code, because in Barcelona, the zip code starts with 08, and ours is 08304," Yamal said, before revealing that it was in this neighbourhood where he first got a taste for entertaining people.

"Where I used to play, in my neighbourhood, there were like walls where people would sit, and I think there was no better feeling than getting the people who were sitting there to stand up, to laugh at the opponents," he explained.

"I think it's the best feeling in the world, and something that reminds me of that a lot is when I'm playing on the field, and the fans get up and are surprised by a play I've made."

However, growing up in Rocafonda wasn't all fun and games. Spanish newspaper El Pais famously described this working-class district as "forgotten, isolated and stigmatised."

"I think that without a doubt, when I was in Rocafonda, because, in the end, it was a neighbourhood where no one knew what was going to happen in their lives," Yamal admitted after being asked if playing for Barcelona is more stressful than life in Rocafonda.

"The truth is, no one knew whether they would become a soccer player, an architect, a painter, or whether they'd find a job. You see your parents working, they can't be with you all the time, and you feel, not nervous, but uncertain about what's going to happen to you."

The youngster's emergence as a global superstar has been a huge source of pride for those neglected by the system. "More Lamine Yamals and fewer evictions" can be read sprayed on the concrete of Rocafonda.

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•App Store