Messi and Lamine Yamal’s incredible first meetingpublished at 12:23 BST
12:23 BST
Spain v Argentina (20:00 BST)
Daniel Austin
BBC Sport senior journalist
Image source, Getty Images
The greatest footballer of all-time and the heir to his crown on the right wing at Barcelona will face each other for the first time when Argentina play Spain in the World Cup final.
Given Lionel Messi is now 39 and Lamine Yamal just 19, it is testament to the former’s relentless perseverance and the latter’s precocious talent that a match featuring both can take place at all, never mind in the sport’s greatest fixture.
But this is far from the first time the two have crossed paths.
That happened in 2007, when a 20-year-old Messi had recently become a regular starter for Barcelona, and Lamine Yamal was only five months old.
The meeting is documented in a series of photographs taken by Joan Monfort. They resurfaced two years ago, when Lamine Yamal helped Spain win Euro 2024, as his father posted one online with the caption “The beginning of two legends”.
In the photos, a smiling Messi is cradling and bathing a tiny baby boy who would inexplicably follow so closely in his footballing footsteps.
The photoshoot took place in the away dressing room at Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium. Lamine Yamal’s family had won a competition to be there.
They had entered a raffle run by Catalan newspaper Sport in conjunction with Barcelona shirt sponsor and international children’s charity Unicef. Those selected at random would have professional photos taken of their baby with a Barcelona first-team player.
Lamine Yamal was among the winners, and on the day the family arrived, they were paired with Messi by chance.