Lamine Yamal has enjoyed strong support during Spain’s World Cup campaign from his girlfriend, Inés García Santos, a Spanish social media influencer from Seville.

After scoring his first World Cup goal, Yamal told DAZN he was dedicating it “to my mother, my girlfriend, to my friends, and everyone back at home in Mataró.”

According to Hola!, García said the pair first met through social media rather than in person.

“You’re probably expecting some perfect, crazy love story. Like I saw him in a store, the way it supposedly went down… my savior, my hero. Here’s the real story: 3, 2, 1… social media!” she said.

García also revealed they had known each other for much longer than many people realised before making their relationship public.

“People started seeing us together when we went to Greece,” she said. “I’ve known Lamine for a lot longer than that. Not quite three years, but a good deal more months than people realize, even now.”

The couple reportedly made their first public appearance together at an FC Barcelona dinner in May.

García has since attended Spain’s World Cup matches wearing Yamal’s shirt and has regularly shared messages of support on social media.