Lamine Yamal is wearing two other nation's flags on his boots while representing Spain in the World Cup

Spain sensation Lamine Yamal is wearing the flags of two other nations on his boots for his first ever World Cup start this evening.

After a cameo in the disappointing 0-0 draw with Cape Verde last time out, Yamal was handed a start in Spain's important game with Saudi Arabia at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and opened the scoring 10 minutes in.

The Barcelona winger, who starred in the Euro 2024 triumph two years ago, is making his 27th appearance for La Roja.

But he will do so while representing two other countries who are close to his heart.

Though he was born in Barcelona and he played for Spain at every youth level, Yamal has affiliation with African nations Equatorial Guinea and Morocco.

His mother was born in Equatorial Guinea, on the west coast of central Africa and his father hails from 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco.

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Morocco tried to convince Yamal to play for them but he informed them "that he feels Spanish".

Meanwhile, Venancio Tomas Ndong Micha, Equatorial Guinea’s football federation president, told the BBC in 2024, that the country "hold him very close in our hearts and think he is going to do many things for Equatoguinean football".

Proud of his heritage, Yamal regularly has both flags on his Adidas F50 boots and was seen representing once again in the warm-up in Atlanta as they were visible on the back.

Lamine Yamal had the flags on his Adidas boots. Image: Getty

Yamal is not the only player with different flags on his boots. Liverpool striker Alexander Isak has the Eritrea flag as that is where the Swede's parents are from, while Chelsea star Cole Palmer gives a nod to family roots to Caribbean island Saint Kitts and Nevis.

In an interview with CBS in America, Yamal said he was always going to play for Spain - stating: "With all my love and respect for Morocco, I’ve always wanted to play in a Euro, play here in Europe."

He added: "I will always have affection for Morocco. It's also my country."

Yamal has quickly become one of the most exciting and decisive players in world football prior to turning 19, which he will do during the World Cup.

Spain boss Luis de la Fuente has been instrumental in his development and recently jumped to play down comparisons to eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi.

However, he did acknowledge that Yamal is a similarly special talent and proceeded to call him a "genius" like esteemed artists Salvador Dali and Michelangelo.

He stated: "The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.”