𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Spain had just gone 3-0 up over Austria in their best performance of this World Cup when the TV footage cut to the stands.

Among the jubilant Spanish supporters, the lens focused on a young boy shouting “Vamooos!” at the top of his voice, pumping his arms with joy as he celebrated Mikel Oyarzabal’s 89th-minute goal.

It wasn’t by chance that the broadcast team singled him out. It was Lamine Yamal’s three-year-old half-brother, Keyne, and he is already pretty well known.

Keyne, born in September 2022, is the son of Yamal’s mum Sheila Ebana. Although they do not share the same dad, he and Yamal have a close relationship, as Yamal explained during mixed zone media duties after being named player of the match in that round-of-32 meeting last Thursday.

“I’m moved when I see my little brother this happy, as well as seeing my mum and friends living the life they always dreamed of,” the 18-year-old said.

“My little brother means everything to me. I am in love with him; it feels like he is my son.”

Yamal’s family bond is a defining element in his identity as a footballer. Whenever he is asked about the pressures of the game and how he manages to cope with his meteoric rise from schoolboy to global star, he has often referred to his home life as a kid. When he signed his new Barcelona contract in July 2025, he made sure his whole family was around him.

“Look, my mum had me when she was 16,” he said in an interview with Spanish radio station Cadena SER last week. “My dad also had to go out and look for a life, sometimes picking up stuff in the streets to try to come back home with food for us. To me, this is real pressure, not what I have.”

At the Ballon d’Or in 2024: Yamal with his father Mounir Nasraoui, his mother Sheila Ebana and Keyne (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)

Those close to Yamal explain how much of a priority it has always been for the footballer to ensure, as soon as he broke his way into professional football, that his family have what they need. This perhaps helps to explain why his little brother has always been fundamental to him.

Keyne goes to practically all of Barcelona’s matches, including many of their away games across Europe. When Yamal went to Paris for the Ballon d’Or ceremony in September, Keyne was there, too, playing around with a Champions League ball on the red carpet and posing for the cameras with Yamal.

For those following Yamal at Barcelona, or Spanish football in general, seeing Keyne take over a share of the spotlight is nothing new. Possibly his first big moment of popularity came after the 2024 European Championship won by Spain, when he joined the team’s celebrations on the pitch alongside his family and was seen playing around with multiple footballers.

Yamal and Keyne on the Barcelona pitch in April 2024 (Lluis Gene/AFP via Getty Images)

Keyne has become a social media sensation as Yamal’s profile has skyrocketed. Yamal has uploaded TikTok dances with his younger brother or clips of them playing around with a football in the garden.

Keyne became the star of the show at Barca’s La Liga title celebrations on the Camp Nou pitch last season. Videos of him dancing at his birthday party or pronouncing (in a cute way) his favourite Barca players are part of the fandom behind him — all documented and published by his older brother.

Yamal and his little brother Keyne, pictured before a Barcelona match in January (David Ramos/Getty Images)

When Yamal launched his YouTube channel with a tour of his (now former) flat in December, he showed off photos of his little brother and explained how he would always want to play with the small statuette that depicts Yamal doing a poo. This is a caganer — a cult object of Catalan Christmas.

There is footage of Keyne singing the Barcelona anthem at home and cheering his brother’s name. He has been filmed messing around with Barca’s giant mascot called Cat, and playing with Yamal’s best friend in the Spain team Nico Williams, after a La Liga match between Barca and Athletic Club.

Keyne pictured at the Spain v Austria match with his father (@sheila_ebana)

At Barcelona, there is a big spotlight, but it is nothing compared to what the World Cup brings.

Footage of Keyne celebrating at the Austria game has been shared and reshared countless times since, becoming one of the most commented memes in Spain. It has brought in some of the other national team players.

Such is the popularity around him that one user on X posted below broadcaster DAZN’s clip of the youngster to complain about “the blonde woman in front” obscuring the camera’s view.

Spain striker Borja Iglesias turned up in the comments to explain that “the blonde woman” had “just given you a brace in this game”. It was Oyazarbal’s mum. All of the Spain team’s family members at the World Cup watch matches from the same section.

Keyne is a frequent face on his mum’s Instagram profile (which has over 700,000 followers), featuring in sponsored content such as a recent video upload highlighting a sushi restaurant in Premia de Mar, a small town up the coast from Barcelona.

The vast majority of Ebana’s posts alongside Keyne are just portraits of family fun, but sources close to Yamal’s camp say brands have been in touch about potential collaborations with Keyne, too.

With Spain playing Belgium in the World Cup quarter-finals on Friday, we are sure to see him again soon, probably celebrating.