ATLANTA — Spain forward Lamine Yamal sparked widespread discussion on social media after appearing to respond to Saudi fans who had chanted his name following the Green Falcons’ opening World Cup match against Uruguay.
After Saudi Arabia’s 1-1 draw with Uruguay, a video circulated widely online showing Saudi supporters chanting “Where is Yamal?” ahead of the highly anticipated Group H clash between Saudi Arabia and Spain.
The clip quickly gained traction across social media platforms, attracting millions of views and becoming one of the most widely shared fan videos in the build-up to the match.
Yamal delivered his answer on the pitch.
The 18-year-old opened the scoring in Spain’s 4-0 victory over Saudi Arabia, helping La Roja secure its first win of the tournament after the opening-round draw with Cape Verde.
Following the match, Yamal shared a series of photos on his official Instagram account. The first image showed his celebration after scoring against Saudi Arabia, while the same post also included the viral video of Saudi fans chanting his name.
The Spanish star captioned the post with the message: “I’m here.”
He added: “Vamos España. Thank you all for your support as always. I’m with you.”
The post quickly went viral, generating more than 3.5 million likes within two hours and drawing widespread reactions across social media, where many users linked the pre-match chants with Yamal’s response after scoring against Saudi Arabia.
Yamal arrived at the World Cup as one of Spain’s biggest stars and scored his first World Cup goal against Saudi Arabia after recovering from a hamstring injury that had limited his role in Spain’s opening match.
Source: Saudi Gazette