In 2007, one of Lionel Messi’s many off-field obligations for his then club FC Barcelona included a photoshoot with a lottery winner. As part of a UNICEF (the club’s shirt sponsor at the time) raffle, the 20-year-old Argentine, in his days of shoulder-length hair, posed with a baby sitting in a bathtub with bubbly water.
Event Context
The photograph, lost in the endless bounds of the internet, resurfaced in 2024 when Yamal’s father Mounir Nasraoui posted it after the Spanish wunderkid helped his country win the European Championships.
“The beginning of two legends,” read the adjoining caption.
Indeed, Messi grew to become arguably the greatest player of all time. But since that raffle win 16 years ago, Messi and Yamal’s paths are once again destined to meet. This time in the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as Spain face Argentina in the title match on Sunday.
“It’s not a rivalry, but it’s a very special situation for the young guy. He’s won the European Championship and now has a chance to win the World Cup. For a 19-year-old, this is huge.”
Yamal has made an already strong Spanish team even better with his flair on the wings and ability to score. At this World Cup, however, he has not been entirely at his devastating best, but Kahn asserted that this is more by design.
“He has played well at this tournament, but he can play much better,” said Kahn, who won the Golden Ball Award at the 2002 World Cup, where he finished as runner-up. “In Barcelona, he had a little bit more freedom, but maybe in the Spain system, he is a little constrained and has to fulfil a specific role.”
So far, his only goal of the tournament came in the game against Saudi Arabia in the group stage. But his performance has improved as the tournament has gone on, especially against France in the semi-final.
“He looked sharper, more alert and he looked as though he wanted to win the game more than any game I’ve seen him in,” said former England and Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler, also a panelist.
And he looks eager to win a second World Cup title to go one ahead of his idol, the great Diego Maradona.
Yamal, though, is hungry for his first world title.
“He (Yamal) will be a different player in the final,” Fowler added. “He will be a different animal, I’ve seen enough of that in the semi-final to know that his game will change.”
Player Focus
That baby is 19 years old now and wears the No. 19 jersey for Spain. That baby is Lamine Yamal.
Messi, the captain of Argentina, is 39 and in the final stages of his glistening career. Yamal, now, is perhaps where Messi was those 19 years ago.
The teenager wears the No.10 jersey at Barcelona just like Messi did. He is a left-footed player who plays on the right flank for his club, just as Messi did. He’s a mazy and speedy dribbler with a keen eye for goal, just as Messi was back in his Barcelona days.
And he’s a player whose presence on the field – for club and country – takes his team to a higher level.
This will be the first time they face each other on the pitch. But between the two products of the famed La Masia academy, there is no rivalry, according to former Germany goalkeeping great Oliver Kahn.
“There is no duel between these two guys, because one player is 39 and the other is 19. I think Messi is a role model for Yamal, (who has) been admiring him for years and wants to be the same like him,” Kahn, an expert panelist for Zee5, said to select media.
“He’s got an incredible desire to change games as well. But you compare him to Messi… it’s a tall ask because of where Messi is and what he’s done. If (Yamal) has half the career Messi has had, then he’s had the best career. But (Yamal) has had a good start.”
Messi, meanwhile, has won every major title the sport has to offer.
But while Yamal is held to a specific role in a Spanish team playing for each other, Messi has the freedom given to him in an Argentina team playing for him.
He has not been the most athletic player in the team at this tournament, but he picks his moments to burst into life and bail out his team. He has scored eight goals, made four assists – including for both the goals in the 2-1 win over England.
Team Analysis
So far in his young career, Yamal has won three La Liga titles, a Copa del Rey, was the runner-up in the 2025 Ballon d’Or, and played a major role in Spain winning its third continental title.
Match Outlook
But will that will be enough to beat a legend?
