Young love bloomed at the Euro Championship on Sunday.
Following Spain’s 2-1 victory over England to clinch the 2024 Euro Championship, Lamine Yamal, who made history as the youngest scorer in the tournament’s history and was named the best young player, was seen cozying up on the pitch with his TikTok star girlfriend Alex Padilla.
Padilla, who has over 300,000 followers on TikTok, was spotted sporting a No. 19 Spain jersey with “Yamal” on the back.
The young couple snapped photos together, one capturing them seated atop the podium with Padilla holding the trophy with her arm around Yamal.
The 17-year-old TikTok sensation, who also resides in Barcelona, was reportedly present at Spain’s group stage matches with Yamal’s family. However, their relationship wasn’t public until this celebratory moment.
Yamal’s father Mounir Nasraoui was also seen celebrating Spain’s victory, as well as his son’s success.
“You cannot imagine how proud I am of my son,” Nasraoui said after the game, according to The Telegraph. “I always knew that he would achieve what he has. I had total faith.
“And I have faith that he could go all the way and be greater than Messi.”
The Barcelona forward, who celebrated his 17th birthday on Saturday, assisted Nico Williams’ goal in the 47th minute of the game to put Spain on the board against England.
While England substitute Cole Palmer tied it in the 73rd minute, Spain backup striker Mikel Oyarzabal came on for captain Alvaro Morata in the last minutes of the game and tapped in a left-wing cross by Marc Cucurella, making it 2-1.
Spanish fans erupted at Olympiastadion Berlin as Spain notched its fourth European Championship.
“This is the best (birthday) gift I could have asked for,” said Yamal, who finished the tournament with one goal and four assists. “It is a dream come true.”
The young forward has recorded seven goals and ten assists across 51 games with Barcelona’s first team.