"I am in love with him; it feels like he is my son." That's Lamine Yamal talking about his little brother — and once you've seen them together, you get it completely.
While Yamal has been dissecting defenses at this World Cup — Player of the Match against Belgium, three goals across two previous semifinal showdowns with France — there's another Yamal who's been quietly winning the internet. Keyne Yamal, Lamine's younger half-brother, is four years old, born in September 2022, and already has more charisma in front of a camera than most adults ever will.
Who is Keyne Yamal?
Keyne is the son of Lamine's mother, Sheila Ebana, from a different relationship. The brothers share a mother but have different fathers, which makes the age gap — roughly 15 years — feel even more striking. Lamine was already a teenager when Keyne arrived. Now the kid is traveling across North America, watching his big brother run World Cup games, and going viral every other week.
He's been a fixture at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys for Barcelona home matches, spotted at away games, and front and center during title celebrations. Cameras can't resist him. Neither can the internet.
After Spain beat Austria, Yamal opened up: "I'm moved when I see my little brother this happy. My little brother means everything to me." Coming from a 17-year-old who rarely shows much on the pitch, that's about as raw as it gets.
Lamine also has a half-sister
Keyne isn't Lamine's only sibling. He also has a younger half-sister named Baraa, through his father Mounir Nasraoui. Unlike Keyne, Baraa has been kept almost entirely out of public life — no viral moments, no stadium appearances, no social media spotlight. The family has made a deliberate choice there, and it's hard to argue with it given the scale of attention surrounding Lamine right now.
Keyne gets the cameras. Baraa gets her privacy. And Lamine carries both of them with him wherever this run takes him next.
