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When Argentina face Spain in tonight’s FIFA World Cup final, football fans will witness far more than a showdown for the game’s greatest prize. It will also mark the first competitive meeting between Lionel Messi, widely regarded as one of football’s greatest ever players, and Lamine Yamal, the teenage prodigy many believe is destined to carry the sport into a new era.
The contest carries a remarkable backstory that began nearly two decades ago, long before Yamal ever kicked a football.
In 2007, a 20-year-old Messi, then an emerging Barcelona star, was photographed cradling and bathing a five-month-old baby during a UNICEF charity photoshoot at the Camp Nou. That baby was Lamine Yamal.
At the time, neither could have imagined that the child in Messi’s arms would one day stand across from him in a World Cup final.
The photographs, taken by Catalan photographer Joan Monfort, resurfaced during Euro 2024 after Yamal’s father posted one on social media with the caption: “The beginning of two legends.” Since then, the images have become one of football’s most iconic symbols of destiny.
“It is a true miracle of destiny,” Monfort told the BBC. “If someone had written this story for a film, nobody would have believed it.”
The photoshoot came about after Yamal’s family won a charity raffle jointly organised by Barcelona, UNICEF and Catalan newspaper Sport. The winners had their babies photographed with Barcelona first-team players, and by pure chance, Messi was paired with the infant Yamal.
Monfort recalled that the naturally shy Messi initially looked unsure about handling a baby.
“He came into the dressing room and suddenly had to pose with a tiny baby. You could see he didn’t quite know what to do at first, but he quickly relaxed,” he said.
Back then, Messi was only beginning his journey towards football immortality. Wearing Barcelona’s No. 19 shirt, he had won one La Liga title and one UEFA Champions League crown and had scored just 11 senior goals.
Nineteen years later, his trophy cabinet includes virtually every major honour in the game, highlighted by a World Cup title, multiple Ballon d’Or awards and countless club trophies.
Yamal’s rise has been equally extraordinary. Having celebrated his 19th birthday just days before the final, the Barcelona winger has already established himself as one of world football’s brightest talents. He has won three La Liga titles, the Copa del Rey and Euro 2024, while scoring more than 50 senior goals before turning 20.
Born to a Moroccan father and an Equatorial Guinean mother, Yamal grew up in Rocafonda, a working-class neighbourhood outside Barcelona. He has often spoken about the sacrifices his parents made to nurture his football dream despite severe financial hardship.
“What my mother and father did for me is something I can never repay,” Yamal said during the tournament.
Now, fate has brought two generations of Barcelona greatness together on football’s grandest stage.
For Messi, the final offers the chance to end his glittering World Cup career with a second title. For Yamal, it is an opportunity to announce himself as the game’s next global superstar.
Monfort admits he is torn between the two.
“I think we are closing the circle of their story,” he said. “Messi deserves the perfect ending, but Lamine has arrived at the right moment too. As a Barcelona supporter, my heart is split in two.”
Whatever unfolds in New Jersey, the image of a young Messi gently holding baby Lamine Yamal has already become one of football’s most extraordinary stories, a chance encounter transformed into a World Cup final that bridges two generations of greatness. Source: BBC News