When Spain won the Euros in 2024, Dani Carvajal was an extremely important cog in Luis De La Fuente’s well-oiled machine. Captaining the team, he brought tons of experience to an otherwise very young team.
For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, however, the veteran full-back failed to make it into Spain’s final squad. A disappointing 2025/26 season with Real Madrid where he struggled for both fitness and consistency saw Carvajal miss out, as Tottenham Hotspur’s Pedro Porro and Atletico Madrid’s Marcos Llorente were preferred for the right-back spot instead.
Even though he was disappointed to miss the World Cup, this has not stopped him from cheering his colleagues on from the confines of his home. Shortly after Spain’s Round of 16 tie against Portugal on Monday, a picture of Carvajal standing up for the anthem, as he would if he were on the pitch, began making the rounds on social media.
Fans were quick to recognize the meme potential of the image, claiming it perfectly fit the popular sports-based “he thinks he’s on the team” template.
Generational ‘he thinks he’s on the team’ meme template 😭😭😭😭 https://t.co/MykyRkSsF1
— george (@StokeyyG2) July 8, 2026
Naturally, it was not long before Carvajal’s image was compared to the most common form of this meme, featuring popular rapper Drake.
Nice to see Dani Carvajal is just like the rest of us when watching our national teams: pic.twitter.com/uzPKSrJnf6
— Sleeper Football (@SleeperFooty) July 9, 2026
The joke about Drake stems from a photo taken at the University of Kentucky back in 2014. Drake attended their “Big Blue Madness” basketball event and spent a lot of time with the players, even turning up to practice and team meetings. He was also given an official team uniform.
The image in the meme, which features him sitting alongside the players with a serious expression on his face, as if he was actually preparing to feature in games, has since been one of the most popular sports-related jokes on social media.
Other fans also compared Carvajal’s image to that of an Argentina fan after the 2022 World Cup final.
Dani literally recreated this meme am crying https://t.co/AnH4DL6vFM pic.twitter.com/421ilisszC
— Taninho (@Taninho_) July 8, 2026
This image features a fan virtually joining the Argentine team’s group hug after they beat France on penalties in the 2022 World Cup final, winning world football’s biggest prize for the first time since 1986.
Another version of this joke that has recently risen to popularity involves popular streamer IShowSpeed.
Who did it better? pic.twitter.com/CSTJTxEfjw
— SK00 (@SerialKilla00) July 8, 2026
Speed’s love and admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo is extremely well-known at this point, so much so that he primarily supports the Portugal football team at World Cups and other sporting events, even though his nation, USA, is also taking part.
He regularly attends matches at the stadium, and his behaviour makes it seem like he considers himself to be a part of the Portuguese team, which fans often joke about.
While fans will continue joking about Carvajal’s gesture on social media, the former Spain captain would have liked what he saw from his team on Monday, as a late Mikel Merino goal helped them book their spot in the quarter-finals.
Next, Spain will face off against Belgium, who are coming off a confidence-boosting victory of their own, having beaten co-hosts USA 4-1 in the last round.
