27.06.2026 13:31
Lamine Yamal, the 18-year-old Spanish national team footballer of Moroccan origin, faced racist and Islamophobic comments on social media after celebrating his goal against Saudi Arabia with a prostration. Experts note that these attacks are part of a long-standing pattern of discrimination.
The young footballer, who scored his team's first goal in the 10th minute of the match against Saudi Arabia played at Atlanta Stadium on Sunday, June 21, celebrated by prostrating himself in prayer. While some fans appreciated this goal celebration, many social media users made racist comments towards Lamine Yamal.
THEY STARTED DEFAMING YAMAL
The celebration, similar to common religious symbols like football players making the sign of the cross or pointing to the sky during goal celebrations, sparked widespread reaction on social media, with many racist social media accounts making Islamophobic posts trying to defame and criticize Yamal.
The reactions included posts with fake images generated by artificial intelligence containing comments such as "Not Muslim, a Christian Spain," "An Arab can never be Spanish," "A disgusting black will always remain a disgusting black."
Some social media users also criticized Yamal for carrying the flags of Equatorial Guinea, his mother's homeland, and Morocco, his father's homeland, on his cleats, arguing that the young footballer did not deserve to wear the Spain jersey.
Alongside the messages attacking Yamal, there were also those who reacted to the racist comments. A social media account named "Catholic University Students" shared a photo of Yamal prostrating, posting "Let us pray for Lamine Yamal's conversion (to Christianity)," while some social media users commented on the post with remarks like "We are ashamed of you for being Spanish and Catholic."
According to data from the Spanish Observatory of Racism and Xenophobia, Lamine Yamal is among the athletes most intensely exposed to racist hate speech on social media. Experts assess that the recent events are not an isolated incident but part of a long-standing campaign of discriminatory and hate-filled attacks targeting the young footballer.