Did LeBron James’ soccer lookalike troll him with goal celebration?

LeBron James may be going from having a lookalike to having an evil twin.

Soccer forward Bryan Mbeumo, who plays for the Cameroonian national team, went viral during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar for his resemblance to the Los Angeles Lakers star James. Some funny photos of Mbeumo looking eerily like James picked up steam online, and James even posted Mbeumo on his Instagram page.

Though Cameroon was eliminated in the group stage of the World Cup, Mbeumo is now back in action with his club team, Brentford F.C. of the English Premier League. During a match against Liverpool on Monday, Mbeumo scored an 84th minute goal off a great ball in by his teammate Christian Noorgaard. Mbeumo made his way around Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate, then beat keeper Alisson Becker to deposit the ball in the back of the net. He celebrated by doing James’ iconic “Silencer” celebration.

The celebration could obviously be interpreted as a shoutout by Mbeumo to his lookalike James. After all, we saw a college receiver do the same move as an homage to James in a bowl game over the weekend.

But there is one important thing to keep in mind here — James is actually a part-owner of Liverpool as an investor in Fenway Sports Group (which took over ownership of the soccer club in 2010). Mbeumo’s late goal ensured that Brentford would take home all three points in the match (with none going to Liverpool). So really, Mbeumo was doing James’ celebration after burying the team that James owns.

The ex-MVP James is used to getting trolled by players in other sports. But Mbeumo’s move had to really sting coming from James’ own doppelganger.