All posts tagged: Yamal

FIFA World Cup 2026: Kartik Aaryan praises Lamine Yamal after Spain's title win

FIFA World Cup 2026: Kartik Aaryan praises Lamine Yamal after Spain's title win

Published by Webster

Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan has praised football sensation Lamine Yamal following Spain’s triumph in the FIFA World Cup 2026, calling the teenager’s remarkable rise “truly inspiring”. Taking to his official Instagram story, the ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ actor shared with his followers a clip of the Spanish footballer walking across the pitch after Spain’s title-winning campaign. Accompanying the video, Aaryan wrote, “This Boy and his story. Truly inspiring !! Fought all odds and became a World champion.” He also congratulated the Spanish side for their title-winning performance, writing, “Spain played like true champions.” Spain secured their second FIFA World Cup title with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Argentina in the final at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday. Ferran Torres scored the decisive goal in the 106th minute of extra time after a well-worked move involving Pedro Porro and Nico Williams. The Spanish side dominated proceedings throughout the contest, controlling approximately 68 per cent possession while registering 20 shots, including 11 on target. Despite repeated pressure led by young star Lamine Yamal, Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano …

Ahead of FIFA World Cup final, every line in New York leads to Lionel Messi

Ahead of FIFA World Cup final, every line in New York leads to Lionel Messi

Published by Webster

6 min readNew YorkUpdated: Jul 18, 2026 07:11 PM IST In the basement of Javits Hall, supporters of Argentina and Spain fidgeted in the sinuous queue to the Fanatics Festival in the heart of New York, two days before the final in MetLife Stadium. The gruff security guard, stifling his yawn, quizzically verified the loyalties of every new entrant, “Spain in the line over there and Argentina down here. No fights, no punches please. I know you guys are sweet.” Both groups of fans were separated by barricades nearly 50 m ahead but he had read about the skirmishes between England and Argentina fans in Times Square on Thursday. The two lines, as if in a procession outside a temple, are unified in their singular wish. To spot the deity, Lionel Messi, who would be on stage for five fleeting minutes. Each entry to the hall came at $82, and not all of the 10,000-odd crowd would be granted access to the hall. But they prayed and waited, with anxious yet jubilant eyes. Some were …

Spain coach’s worry, and it isn’t Argentina

Spain coach’s worry, and it isn’t Argentina

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Gulping a mouthful of water from the table, Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni cleared his throat and told the media manager sitting beside him: “You need to translate this, it’s important now, in English. Very, very clean English.” The media manager looked amusedly at him, even though he could have understood the premise. “I don’t have any superstition,” he clarified, resisting laughter and trying to put on a stern face but failing horribly. The reporter’s question was on Scaloni’s habit of wearing the same shoe (or rather, sneaker) for every game. The manager, after another swig of water, narrated how he forsook the ritual. “I had one in the previous World Cup. I used the same pair of shoes during a winning streak. Then we lost to Saudi Arabia, and I had to take it off. So I said, ‘bye shoes.’ From there on, I didn’t have any.” ALSO READ | Never mess with Messi: A lesson Spain can learn from Bellingham’s bravado The reporter interrupted again: “What about entering the ground with the right foot?” …

Messi opens up on iconic Yamal photo ahead of World Cup final

Messi opens up on iconic Yamal photo ahead of World Cup final

Published by Webster

3 min readUpdated: Jul 18, 2026 09:24 AM IST The cinematic sub-plot in Sunday’s FIFA World Cup final featuring Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal feels too good to be true, even for the Argentina superstar. For the first time since their iconic photograph together from almost two decades ago went viral in 2024, Messi spoke about meeting young Yamal, whom he bathed for a promotional charity photo shoot in late 2007. Neither of them knew, in that fleeting moment, that the world would one day look back at the image and see the beginning of something extraordinary. A 20-year-old Lionel Messi, with a shy smile and a head of untamed curls, held a six-month-old Yamal in a blue plastic bathtub for a photo taken by freelancer Joan Monfort. ALSO READ | Never mess with Messi: A lesson Spain can learn from Bellingham’s bravado “That picture with Lamine, now we are facing in a final after a photo was taken of when he was a baby,” Messi told seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady in an …

Yamal, Alvarez and why the long-range goal is back at this FIFA World Cup

Yamal, Alvarez and why the long-range goal is back at this FIFA World Cup

Published by Webster

Lamine Yamal’s words are like his goals. The strikes open up unseen angles, unthought spaces, and unforeseen dimensions. The words slit open old wounds. With one sentence after the Belgium victory, “If anyone should be afraid it should be them, we knocked them out of the Euros,” he slashed open a night France wanted to forget. Everything: the score, the scar, the star, the goal, the flaw. It was the night that built the legend of Yamal. The goal that advertised his infinite potential and announced the postcode of his town Rocafonda to the world. He has yet to set the World Cup stage on fire, but the memory clings on. Thirty yards from goal, he careened inside and ferried the ball to the top corner off the far post, leaving the audience, teammates and the French in equal parts shocked and marvelling. The pattern could recur with semifinal-defining consequences. Yamal’s recovery from injury has been so staggered that he has not hit the high notes of the Euros, but France’s left side remains his …

Olise, Yamal, Cubarsi and a semi-final that previews football’s next decade

Olise, Yamal, Cubarsi and a semi-final that previews football’s next decade

Published by Webster

Behind France’s relentless attack is a 24-year-old conductor with dreadlocks and instincts that seem borrowed from another era. Behind Spain’s impenetrable defence is a 19-year-old whose composure belongs to a man twice his age. The France versus Spain semi-final in Dallas is many things at once: a tactical chess match, a collision of European giants, a game that deserved to be a final. Above all, it is a window into football’s future. Some of these players are already superstars. Kylian Mbappe is only 26, arguably not yet at his peak. But it is the names beyond Mbappe that hum with possibility, players who could fill the vast space Messi and Ronaldo, Modric and De Bruyne will eventually leave behind. ALSO READ | Deschamps’ magic square: How Mbappe, Dembele, Doue, Olise are crushing opponents Michael Olise is the fulcrum of France’s machine. Before this World Cup, he was known chiefly to European football devotees. Now he is unmissable, a playmaker of equal parts intuition and intelligence, running the French show with his passing, movement and energy. …

De la Fuente confident, Yamal fires warning – ‘If they fear anyone, it’s us’

De la Fuente confident, Yamal fires warning – ‘If they fear anyone, it’s us’

Published by Webster

2 min readJul 11, 2026 02:29 PM IST A heavyweight clash at the FIFA World Cup 2026 awaits, with European giants France and Spain set to battle for a place in the final. Spain booked their spot after a 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Belgium, courtesy of a late winner from Mikel Merino. Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente appeared confident ahead of the showdown against a French side that has steamrolled its way to a third straight semifinal. De la Fuente admitted that facing a team as strong as France would be a huge task, but insisted Les Bleus would be equally worried about his side. “I’m sure France are as worried as we are. Remember we beat them in two consecutive games. These are two incredible teams,” De la Fuente said. France were knocked out by Spain in the semifinals of Euro 2024, and the Spanish have won their last two encounters against the French. Spanish teenage wonderkid Lamine Yamal also fired a warning, saying that if Kylian Mbappé’s side fears anyone at this …

Despite just one goal in the tournament, Lamine Yamal remains special

Despite just one goal in the tournament, Lamine Yamal remains special

Published by Webster

5 min readNew JerseyJul 11, 2026 10:28 AM IST The magic came in the endgame. Around the 80th minute, not far from Belgium’s box, Rodri’s ball found Lamine Yamal. Three Belgium players converged on him. He dropped his shoulder to his right, like hypnotised followers of a cult guru, they followed the sway of his deceitful shoulders; Yamal paused and twisted his body in the opposition direction, leaving the defenders off-balance. The reinforcements flew in. From the corner of the eye, he found Pedro Porro. He made a step forward, as though he was taking on the tussle with the Belgians, but conjured a gorgeous back-heel to Porro. The inventive pass came to nothing. But the moment captured the devilishness of Yamal. The tournament has not been his yet, he has struggled to hit the Euro crescendo; he has scored just a goal and is yet to register an assist. But he is here, and in fits and flashes, slowly rediscovering the player he once was, and the player that the world wants to see. …

Portugal vs Spain World Cup 2026 Match LIVE: Ronaldo battles Yamal in clash of generations as POR face ESP | Football News

Portugal vs Spain World Cup 2026 Match LIVE: Ronaldo battles Yamal in clash of generations as POR face ESP | Football News

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Portugal vs Spain World Cup 2026 Match Today Live Updates: Two generations will collide when Portugal’s 41-year-old superstar Cristiano Ronaldo comes face to face with Spain’s 18-year-old prodigy Lamine Yamal at the Dallas Stadium on Monday night. Ronaldo, on three goals, will look to silence his critics while Yamal will be eager to burst into form in what has been an ordinary tournament thus far. Yamal won’t have fond memories of facing Portugal, having being defeated by them last year UEFA Nation’s League final on penalties. In World Cups, this is the first time these two sides are meeting since the 2018 edition in Russia where Ronaldo singlehandedly took the game away from Spain with a hattrick in what eventually turned out to be a 3-3 draw. Story continues below this ad The latest edition of the Iberian derby also promises to be a firecracker with both teams studded to the brim with megastars in all positions, especially each team’s stacked midfields which boasts the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, Joao Neves as well as …

In Nuno Mendes, Portugal have an antidote to neutralise Spain’s Lamine Yamal

In Nuno Mendes, Portugal have an antidote to neutralise Spain’s Lamine Yamal

Published by Webster

5 min readJul 5, 2026 08:13 PM IST Most teams go into a match against Spain with a sense of foreboding and a crucial question – how best to contain Lamine Yamal? Portugal arrive with answers. At the 2006 World Cup, England rushed Wayne Rooney back from injury. They felt that their golden generation needed the impetus of a brash red-faced Evertonian, destined for greatness, to come and breathe fire into their campaign. That World Cup ended with a wink from Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney’s fire consuming himself, and England’s generation of heralded Premier League talent being shown their place in the world order by Portugal in the quarterfinal. Spain, resolute in their belief in their collectivism, arrive in New Jersey 20 years later in somewhat similar circumstances. They are armed with Pedri, Rodri and Fabian Ruiz – a holy trinity of controllers, who rarely allow others to dictate how a game plays out. They’re good enough for Spain coach Luis de la Fuente to swipe aside any pretense of humility when he admitted that Spain …