Lamine Yamal's grandmother snuck onto a bus from Morocco and worked three shifts so her son could join her in Spain. That son became a father as a teenager. That baby is now in the World Cup final.
His parents split when he was 3. He grew up shuttling between two towns: Mataró with his dad, in the Rocafonda neighborhood where half the residents live below the poverty line, and Granollers with his mom, who worked such long hours as a waitress that he has spoken about how little of his childhood they actually spent together. The apartment he describes here, kitchen and bedroom in one room, is what two very young parents working every shift they could find were able to give him.
Then football took the rest of his childhood. Barcelona scouted him at 6. La Masia at 7. First team at 15, the youngest debutant the club had fielded since 1922. While other kids were in school hallways, he was carrying the hopes of a 125-year-old institution.
The family has paid for the fame too. In August 2024, weeks after he won the Euros at 17, his father was stabbed multiple times in a Mataró parking lot. He later said he saw himself between life and death.
So when Yamal talks about happiness, he skips the €16.6M salary, the €1 billion release clause, the number 10 shirt. He talks about his mom smiling in the stands and his 3-year-old brother Keyne, the kid the cameras keep finding at this World Cup doing the siu after matches.
Three generations traded away their childhoods to get here. He's using all of it to make sure the fourth one doesn't have to.
El capitán de la Selección de Irán, Mehdi Taremi, explotó contra la FIFA y la organización de Estados Unidos.
“Esta es una Copa del Mundo desastrosa. Como jugadores profesionales no podemos jugar una competición en estas condiciones, no está bien ni es justo. Si la FIFA piensa que esto es justo, tema de ellos, pero no lo es. ¿Quién debería solucionar este problema por nosotros? ¿La FIFA? ¿EE.UU.? ¡No sé! Díganme un nombre. El presidente de la FIFA, Gianni Infantino, vino a nuestro vestuario después del primer partido contra Nueva Zelanda y dijo que iba a resolver todos los problemas, pero en realidad, la FIFA no hizo nada. Respondiendo la pregunta de: "¿Sienten que los organizadores de la Copa del Mundo, incluidos la FIFA y los funcionarios estadounidenses, prefieren que Irán sea eliminado de la competencia?", digo: Tenemos que luchar contra absolutamente todo. No podemos quedarnos en el país, viajamos y nos sometemos a controles migratorios cada vez que queremos jugar, ahora no podemos quedarnos en Seattle y tenemos que volver a Tijuana. Han hecho todo lo posible para eliminarnos, entonces desde nuestra perspectiva, sí, creo que lo quieren así, nos quieren afuera”.
#Burundi 🇧🇮 : Camp de réfugiés de Musasa
Une explosion de joie a secoué le camp de Musasa, en province de Ngozi, lorsque les Léopards ont trouvé le chemin des filets. Devant les écrans géants installés à l’initiative du Président de la République, Félix Tshisekedi, des milliers de réfugiés congolais ont laissé éclater leur bonheur, chantant, dansant et scandant le nom de la RDC.
À plus de 50 ans de la dernière participation congolaise à la Coupe du monde, le football rassemble à nouveau les Congolais, même loin de leur terre natale. 🇨🇩🦁⚽
#Mundial2026 #Léopards #RDC #Burundi #Musasa #UnPeupleUnePassion
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