Tonight’s FIFA World Cup football final couldn’t have been a tastier match up, not just because Argentina and Spain were the top 2 in the FIFA pre-tournament rankings but also are the two teams who play a brand of football that does justice to the sport’s billing as the beautiful game. And even more remarkable is the match up between the two team’s most celebrated superstars – Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal, the former already a legend and the latter the next big thing in World football. It is no coincidence that Yamal wears jersey number 10 for his club FC Barcelona where Messi spent much of his career with the same jersey. Yet the most astonishing coincidence has to be the story of how a young Messi did a photo shoot with baby Yamal: “In December 2007, Monfort took a photo of a 20-year-old Messi, who had begun his legendary Barcelona career just over three years earlier, and Lamine Yamal — who was five months old.
It was published in a 2008 charity calendar organised by Barcelona’s club foundation and newspaper Diario Sport, with the money raised going to UNICEF and other charities around Catalonia.
As part of a yearly initiative back then, members of the Barcelona squad were photographed alongside children. Hundreds of families collaborated and most of the photos have now been forgotten, beyond the treasured private memories of those who took part.
It just so happens that Yamal, Barca’s star of the future, was paired with Messi, who would go on to win the Ballon d’Or eight times. Now, they are due to meet in Sunday’s World Cup final at MetLife Stadium — the first time they will have ever confronted each other on a football pitch, as Spain meet Argentina.”
Obviously, Yamal’s growing up to be a teenage prodigy was no way to be known back then nor Messi’s rise to greatness: ““It’s something incredible,” Monfort told The Athletic in a July 2024 interview. “Back then, nobody could imagine that this baby would be who he is now — and you could not have known that Messi would become who he became, either.
“We are talking about 2007. Messi was only beginning at Barca then. Destiny plays an important role in these things.”
In December 2007, Messi had already won two La Liga titles and a Champions League, but he was still just an emerging talent in a squad full of established stars including Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol and Thierry Henry.
…Yamal made his La Liga debut aged 15 in April 2023. An international debut with Spain came aged 16 in the September of that year. He was a key part of the Spain team that won Euro 2024 and is now their biggest star at this World Cup, even if he has not quite burst into life at the tournament so far.
At club level, meanwhile, Yamal wears Messi’s iconic old No 10 shirt for Barca and has emerged as the closest possible successor to the Argentina legend, who achieved so much during his 21 years in Catalonia, having himself joined as a 13-year-old in September 2000.
“It’s a one-in-a-million chance that this could happen,” Monfort said. “It’s such good fortune.”
It is good fortune indeed for us football fans to see such a beautiful coincidence. This transcending of generations signifies Messi’s longevity at the top underpinning his greatness.
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