Meet Mayssa Baha: The 15-Year-Old Prodigy Shattering Barcelona's Record Books

It has been a remarkable month for Mayssa Baha, the 15-year-old Moroccan international who made history on September 26 by becoming the youngest player to ever start for Barcelona’s Femeni team.

Mayssa earned her first senior start in a league match against Logrono, where she also scored her debut senior goal. By doing so, she became the youngest goalscorer in Barcelona's history for any senior side—male or female—eclipsing the previous record set by Lamine Yamal. Additionally, she holds the title of the youngest player to score in Spain’s Liga F.

Before breaking these records, the young forward had been making substitute appearances for a dominant Barcelona squad that consistently wins matches. As European champions in three of the past four seasons and Spain's champions for the last seven consecutive years, Barcelona secured 29 victories out of 30 league games last season and recently triumphed 7-0 against Real Madrid in front of 40,000 spectators.

Mayssa has shared the pitch as a substitute alongside world-class talents like Aitana Bonmarti. Although she is not yet old enough to feature in the UEFA Champions League until she turns 16 in January, her journey in football is already extraordinary. Born in Malaga, Spain, in 2011 while her father, former Morocco international Nabil Baha, played for the club, Mayssa began her formal football education at FUS Rabat between 2014 and 2016 during her father's stint there. Upon returning to Malaga, she and her brother Ziyad continued playing youth football, often competing in age groups two or three years ahead of their actual age.

Her brother Ziyad, now 17, currently plays for Olympique Marseille’s youth team and the Morocco under-17 men’s squad, where their father serves as head coach. Meanwhile, Mayssa already represents Morocco’s under-17 women's team, having debuted at just 12 years old—setting yet another record. She also stood out as the youngest player at last year’s Under-17 World Cup, though she retains the eligibility to represent Spain at the senior international level in the future.

The siblings' mother, Spanish-Moroccan model Farah Farabian, dedicates much of her time to supporting her children's athletic pursuits. "People wonder why I quit my job for my kids like I had no life left," Farabian recently shared. "But today, my life is also accompanying them in theirs. Every weekend I travel miles between Barcelona and Marseille to share their matches, joys and progress. It's not a sacrifice; it's my choice, my happiness."

Having joined Barcelona at age 13, Mayssa lived at the La Masia academy and swiftly progressed through the club's ranks, playing for the C team last season and beginning this current season with the B team. Following a pre-season training camp with the first team in Andorra, she earned and maintained her spot among some of the world's finest players. Widely regarded as the top global player for her age group, she displays strong physical and mental maturity, boasting speed, power, and confidence, while continuing to develop her tactical understanding of the game under elite guidance at Barcelona.