Carli Lloyd Claps Back at Fan Calling Out Her Criticism of Lamine Yamal After Spain's World Cup Win

United States women's national team legend Carli Lloyd responded to one fan who took exception to her commentary about Spain star Lamine Yamal during the 2026 World Cup.

Lloyd originally argued the 19-year-old "hasn't" yet excelled on the biggest stages. Following Spain's 1-0 victory over Argentina in the final, she stood by her stance and said his country's victory "doesn't mean he individually had a good tournament."

On one hand, it's true that Yamal didn't have a remarkable run in the World Cup. He scored once in eight matches, and the goal came in Spain's straightforward 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia.

The Barcelona attacker did nearly have a second in the semifinal against France but was fractionally offside:

But it's worth pointing out that Yamal had a hamstring injury prior to the World Cup, and his availability wasn't immediately clear before coach Luis de la Fuente selected him in the squad.

Fans didn't see the best version of Yamal this summer.

In addition, Lloyd was a bit dismissive of what the teenager has achieved already. A three-time La Liga champion, he was the 2025 Ballon d'Or runner-up and got singled out for individual honors when Spain won Euro 2024.

Sure, Yamal is still in an early phase of his wider career, but he has done enough to merit inclusion in discussions over the best active players in the game.

Over time, people are going to increasingly forget about what he did or didn't do in the 2026 World Cup as well and simply look at the fact he was a world champion. That's something a lot of historically great legends don't have on their resumes.