Is a photo showing Spanish footballer Lamine Yamal draped in the Palestine flag and holding the World Cup trophy real? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Yamal wore a Palestinian flag over his shoulders after Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 in the World Cup final on July 19, 2026. The fake image closely resembles authentic photos showing the 19-year-old star on the field after the championship trophy was presented to the team.
The claim appeared in a post and image (archived here) by the @mohamed_7G account on X on July 19, 2026. Translated from Arabic, it read:
The most beautiful picture of the day 🇵🇸
This is what the image in the post looked like:
(Image source: post by @mohamed_7G on X.)
News searches
Lead Stories searched Google News (archived here) and Yahoo News (archived here) and did not find any matching reports from credible news outlets using the search terms: "Lamine Yamal," "Palestine Flag," and "World Cup trophy." No credible news outlets published the image or reported the claim as fact.
Lead Stories found many photos by credible news outlets of Yamal carrying the World Cup trophy after it was presented to the team. None of them showed him draped in a Palestinian flag. In several of the images, Yamal has something around his neck that reads "Campeones," which translates to "Champions" in English.
However, the modified image is most similar to one from Yamal's own Instagram account (@lamineyamal). A post (archived here) on July 20, 2026, shows him holding the trophy with his hand on his hip, similar to the fake image. The main differences are the Palestinian flag and the look on his face.
This is what the image in the post looked like:
(Image source: post by @lamineyamal on Instagram.)
The two images are side-by-side below:
(Image sources: post by @lamineyamal on Instagram and post by @mohamed_7G on X.)
Four other images provide additional evidence that Yamal did not wear a Palestinian flag over his shoulders following the match:
(Image sources: FC Barcelona, Fox Sports, BBC, and ESPN.)
In May 2026, just ahead of the World Cup, Yamal stirred controversy when he waved a Palestinian flag (archived here) during FC Barcelona's La Liga title celebrations following the club's victory over Real Madrid.
