When Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal face off in Sunday’s World Cup final, it will be the culmination of a remarkable full-circle story that has unfolded over nearly two decades.
In 2007, Yamal, who was born in July of that year, and Messi, then 20 years old, sat for a picture taken by UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), a global organization that offers development and humanitarian aid to mothers and children all over the world.
Yamal’s family won a raffle to take a picture with a Barcelona player for a UNICEF calendar in 2008.
One picture from the shoot shows Messi assisting Sheila Ebana, Yamal’s mother, in bathing the happy five-month-old boy in a blue plastic tub.
“The photographer, Joan Monfort, has said that Lamine Yamal stole Messi’s heart because he was always smiling,” UNICEF Catalan’s Laia Ruich said on the organisation’s website.
After almost two decades, Messi and Yamal are together sharing the biggest platform in sports.
Yamal, a youthful prodigy from Spain who has followed in Messi’s footsteps at Barcelona, recently turned 19.
Messi, the 39-year-old captain of Argentina, will participate in his third World Cup final, which is most likely to be his final championship appearance.
“That photo is incredible. I took a picture with him when he was a baby … the fact that we’re both playing in the World Cup now is crazy,” Messi said at a fan event in Manhattan on Friday.
Messi stated that even if he has a soft spot for Yamal because of his connection to his old team, Barcelona, it won’t take away from his goal of defeating Spain on Sunday.
“I wish him luck because his success will be Barcelona’s success, (but) we’ll try to keep him from playing at his best. He’s 19 years old and has his whole career ahead of him. I wish him the best, but we’ll give it our all to ensure he doesn’t become champion this time.”
Messi and Yamal’s initial encounter and the World Cup final date that followed are described by photographer Monfort as “a true miracle of destiny.”
“If you wrote this in a film it would not seem possible,” Monfort told the BBC.
Even Mikel Merino, Yamal’s teammate from Spain, admitted on Friday that when he first viewed the picture, he thought it was an AI-generated hoax.
“The first time I saw it, I thought it was AI and that it wasn’t even real. It’s unbelievable that two of the best players to have played the game — and hopefully Lamine, in the future, will be one of those — share a picture like that,” Merino said.
Both Yamal and Messi are currently UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors.
“Growing up, all I had was a family, a ball, a park and a dream. Playing football gave me structure, a sense of belonging, and hope for the future. I know how important it is for children to have a safe place to play, so that they can simply enjoy being children,” Yamal said in June.
