Lamine Yamal, Spain’s ‘Worldwide Shame’ and How Anti-Muslim Chants Forced Him to Speak Out

Cornellà de Llobregat – A send-off meant to showcase Spain’s dazzling World Cup credentials ended in infamy on Tuesday night, as anti-Muslim chanting hijacked the national team’s final home fixture before this summer’s tournament and compelled teenage star Lamine Yamal to break his silence on bigotry in Spanish football.

The 0-0 friendly draw against Egypt at Espanyol’s 40 000-seat RCDE Stadium was soured in the tenth minute when thousands of home supporters launched the refrain “Musulman el que no bote es” – “whoever doesn’t jump is a Muslim” – and repeated it twice more before the final whistle. The chant, directed at the travelling Egyptian fans, echoed around a ground that could feature prominently in Spain’s segment of the 2030 World Cup, a competition the country will co-host with Portugal and majority-Muslim Morocco.

Yamal, an 18-year-old Barcelona winger and practising Muslim, was on the pitch for the first two renditions. Sources close to the player told The Athletic he was visibly upset; at full-time he bypassed the traditional lap of appreciation and headed straight for the dressing room. On Wednesday morning he used Instagram to address the incident publicly for the first time.

“I am a Muslim, thank God,” Yamal wrote. “Using religion to mock people in a football stadium leaves you as ignorant and racist people. Football is to enjoy and support, not to offend people by who they are or what they believe in.”

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) attempted to quell the chanting at half-time with a stadium-wide plea condemning “racist, homophobic or xenophobic” behaviour, but the message had limited effect. Only when whistles from other sections of the crowd drowned out the chant in the second half did its volume subside.

President Rafael Louzan labelled the episodes “exceptional and isolated” while speaking in the mixed zone, yet the damage was already etched into headlines across the country. Madrid daily AS branded the night “Worldwide shame”; rival Marca ran a similar front-page verdict. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the scenes “unacceptable”, adding, “We cannot allow a disrespectful minority to tarnish the reality of Spain, a tolerant country of many.”

Catalan police confirmed they have opened a hate-crime investigation, working alongside prosecutors who specialise in discrimination cases. The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sport issued a statement vowing to “eradicate such conduct” in partnership with sporting bodies.

The controversy is especially sensitive given Yamal’s background. Born in Spain to a Moroccan father and an Equatorial-Guinean mother, he has fasted during Ramadan throughout both of his professional seasons and credits his Muslim grandmother as a guiding influence, once delaying a Barcelona contract signing so she could attend. In October 2024 he was also the target of Islamophobic insults during a Clásico at the Bernabéu, an incident that led to a one-year ban for one minor offender.

Tuesday’s match marked only Spain’s second appearance in Catalonia in 22 years; the previous visit, also to Espanyol’s ground, came in 2020. Organisers had viewed Barcelona as a strategic stop on the road to 2030, hoping to illustrate unity in a region where support for the national side has historically been lukewarm. Instead, the evening exposed the rifts that football can magnify: Egyptian players were booed during their anthem, political chants declaring “Gibraltar is Spanish” rang out, and insults were hurled at the Spanish prime minister.

With Spain now heading to the United States, Canada and Mexico for the 2025 World Cup as one of the favourites, the focus should have fallen on Yamal’s mesmeric form. Instead, the country must confront a recurring stain on its reputation. Authorities have promised action; players like Yamal are no longer willing to stay quiet.