Nineteen years ago, at Barcelona's Camp Nou, Lionel Messi posed for a charity photo shoot with a five-month-old baby he had never met. On Sunday, that baby, Lamine Yamal, will face Messi in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final as Spain take on Argentina. A full-circle football story.
The image was taken in 2007 as part of a fundraising calendar organised by the FC Barcelona Foundation, Spanish newspaper Sport, and UNICEF. Families from Rocafonda, a neighbourhood in Mataró near Barcelona, were randomly selected to take part.
Yamal's family happened to be paired with Messi, then a 20-year-old Barcelona prospect still years away from becoming one of the sport's greatest players.
Photographer Joan Monfort captured the now-famous moment of Messi carefully holding the infant in a small bathtub inside the Camp Nou dressing rooms.
The picture appeared in the 2008 charity calendar before fading into obscurity for nearly two decades.
The connection between the two did not end there.
Both players emerged from Barcelona's famed La Masia academy, widely regarded as one of football's greatest talent factories. Messi joined the club at 13 and made his senior debut at 17. Yamal entered La Masia at the age of seven before becoming Barcelona's youngest first-team player of the modern era when he debuted at just 15.
Yamal has also inherited Barcelona's iconic number 10 shirt, made legendary by Messi during his record-breaking career with the Catalan club.
Now, their careers intersect once again on the international stage
Spain booked their place in the World Cup final with a 2-0 victory over France, with Lamine Yamal playing a key role by winning the penalty that opened the scoring before Pedro Porro added a second.
Argentina, meanwhile, produced a dramatic comeback against England. After Anthony Gordon gave England the lead, the defending champions scored twice in the closing minutes through Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez to secure a 2-1 victory and another appearance in the final.
For Messi, 39, Sunday's match offers the chance to retain the World Cup title Argentina won in Qatar four years ago and add another chapter to one of football's greatest careers.
For Yamal, who turned 19 during the tournament, it is an opportunity to win the sport's biggest prize in his first World Cup final and continue a rise that has already made him one of football's brightest stars.
Reflecting on the famous photograph in a recent interview with DAZN, Yamal joked that both he and Messi had changed since that day.
"I've grown a little," he said with a smile, "and Leo has too."
What began as a fundraising photo shoot has become an extraordinary football story. Nearly two decades after sharing a bathtub for a charity calendar, Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal will share the pitch in a World Cup final, one chasing another title, the other hoping to lift the trophy for the first time.
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