Who is Lamine Yamal's mother Sheila Ebana who has 1M+ social media followers?

Like every big tournament, especially the World Cup, this time too a new sleet of football super stars were introduced to even the non-avid viewers of the sport, including Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham. But the one that finally is the talk of the town is the 19-year-old Spanish star Lamine Yamal, who faced the 39-year-old Lionel Messi head on, on Sunday's finale match.

This also brings a full-circle moment for the rising superstar, who had gone viral over a 2007 photo of a then-20-year-old Lionel Messi bathing the La Liga player when he was months old for a charity photo shoot, all thanks to his mother, Sheila Ebana.

But how did Lamine Yamal reach a charity photoshoot? Here's what his mother Sheila Ebana did

Lamine was born on July 13, 2007, near Barcelona, Spain, to Mounir Nasraoui and Sheila Ebana, both of whom are in their mid-30s. Sheila, who is usually spotted at the stands rooting for her elder one, has 1.7 M followers on Instagram.

Sheila, originally from Equatorial Guinea and Mounir, originally from Morocco, both arrived in Catalonia as children with their mothers. "The first to arrive was my grandmother, who sneaked onto the bus from Morocco and managed to get to Mataro," Lamine said of his father's mom on a 2025 podcast.

"She started working three shifts so my father could come because he stayed in Morocco, and when my grandmother made some money, she paid a woman to bring my father and his sister, who came when they were three," he added.

Lamine's parents met and welcomed him as teenagers living in Barcelona, though they split when he was three years old, and he subsequently lived with his mom near the city of Granollers, which is a 30-minute drive north-east from Barcelona.

The Messi bathing Lamine photograph was one among many images taken for a charity calendar back in December 2007 when the former played for Barcelona. It was organised by UNICEF and the FC Barcelona Foundation. No one knew then that Messi and Lamine will go on to script their respective histories and play against each other in a World Cup final, years later.

How Sheila Ebana raised her elder son, Lamine Yamal

Lamine's mom Sheila took a job at a fast food restaurant to support him, according to a sports magazine, before he joined the youth academy of Barcelona football club, La Masia academy, when he was 12, leading to his debut just three years later.

"I came from an apartment where the kitchen and bedroom were in the same place," he also shared of his early childhood, adding: "[Now,] I see my mother happy, I see that my brother can have the childhood I would have wanted, and that's what makes me happiest."

Lamine has also gone viral for his adorable, three-year-old little half-brother Keyne, who makes frequent appearances on the stands to support his elder half-brother.

"I'm moved when I see my little brother this happy, as well as seeing my mom and friends living the life they always dreamed of," Lamine said during a press conference in July 2026. "My little brother means everything to me. I am in love with him; it feels like he is my son."

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