Spain’s teenage superstar Lamine Yamal was nowhere near the ugly scenes that marred the immediate aftermath of the World Cup final.
While players and officials from both sides chose physical violence after the final whistle sounded on Spain’s 1-0 victory over Argentina in New Jersey on Monday morning (AEST), 19-year-old Yamal was praying.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Lamine Yamal prayers while post-match fight breaks out
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The match was already decided when Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes exchanged words with Spain defender Eric García before forcefully pushing him the neck as staff from both teams and substitute players ran in to try to break up the dispute.
A Spanish substitute went straight for Paredes, who by that stage was seeing red and lashed out again, shoving him to the ground twice in what became ugly scenes.
That drew several more players in to the altercation and sparked spotfires everywhere.
Naturally, most of the attention inside MetLife Stadium was drawn towards the distasteful post-match fracas — but not all of it.
Some eagle-eyed fans spotted Yamal, adjacent to the fight but no more than 15 metres away from it, down on two knees taking a moment show gratitude and be present for what he’d just achieved.
The gesture won praise from football fans around the globe.
“This is THE image of this World Cup: peace above all,” one wrote on social media.
“He is praying in peace with the fight in the background. This is the best thing I’ve seen in all the World Cup,” another added.
With the historic win, Ballon d’Or fancy Yamal became the first player in football history to win a World Cup and the Euros as a teenager, having done the latter as a 17-year-old in 2024.
Former Germany and Ghana international Kevin-Prince Boateng was disappointed in the post-match fracas that unfolded around Yamal.
“To see these scenes after the game, that’s sore losing. That’s not what Leo Messi deserves,” he told SBS.
England great Alan Shearer was even more critical.
“Paredes threw two or three haymakers into someone’s face. He went for them,” he told BBC.
“There is no place or space for that. We know how much it means to them and we know how much it hurts to lose, but there is a way to lose.
“Too many times we have seen that from Argentina. The reaction after the final whistle is terrible.”
