June 15, 2026, Atlanta. Lamine Yamal, 18, steps onto the pitch at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to make his World Cup debut for Spain. He comes on as a substitute, having not been expected to start, and does so wearing Adidas boots where his name appears alongside the flags of Morocco and Equatorial Guinea. Spain’s flag is nowhere to be seen. 🇲🇦🇬🇶
His father was born in Larache, Morocco. His mother, in Bata, Equatorial Guinea. For Yamal, those boots tell where his blood comes from. For half of Spain, something important was missing from that story. The president of the Moroccan Federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, even said he wants to see him in a final “to find out whether he made the right decision”.
A week later, against Portugal, he appeared with a headband that did feature the Spanish flag alongside the other two. It did not last long: against Austria, he swapped it for one that read “Ego Yamal” after criticism of his play. Against Saudi Arabia, in the quarterfinals, the Spanish flag returned to his headband. Was it an apology, or did he just change accessories?