2026 FIFA World Cup: Yamal responds to Saudi Arabia mockery via social media

Spain's teenage sensation Lamine Yamal delivered the perfect response to his detractors both on and off the pitch following La Roja's commanding 4-0 demolition of Saudi Arabia at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. 

Prior to the Group H clash at the Atlanta Stadium, viral footage circulated showing scores of travelling Saudi fans playfully taunting the 18-year-old outside the venue, repeatedly chanting, "Where is Yamal?" in an attempt to rattle him. 

The Barcelona winger, who was making his first start of the tournament after managing a hamstring injury that limited him to a 20-minute cameo in the first game, had the last laugh. 

Following the final whistle, Yamal took to Instagram to upload a series of match images, directly highlighting the clips of the fans' taunts before succinctly captioning the post with a sharp retort: "I'm here. Let's go Spain!! Thank you..." 

His response followed a dominant team performance that saw Mikel Oyarzabal net a first-half brace and Hassan Altambakti concede an unfortunate own goal to completely rip apart the Saudi defence.  

Yamal’s social media swagger was entirely justified by his electric performance, as he announced his arrival at the tournament by scoring his first-ever World Cup goal just 10 minutes into the match. 

Capitalising on a superb pass from Oyarzabal, the teenager calmly slotted the ball past goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais to open the scoring. 

In doing so, Yamal etched his name into the history books; at exactly 18 years and 343 days old, he became the eighth-youngest goalscorer in the history of the FIFA World Cup. 

Furthermore, the strike cemented his place as the second-youngest player to ever score for the Spanish national team at the tournament, sitting only behind his Barcelona teammate Gavi, who famously netted against Costa Rica at the 2022 FIFA World Cup aged 18 years and 110 days.