2 min readUpdated: Jul 16, 2026 02:08 PM IST
The photograph was taken in a Barcelona dressing room in late 2007. A 20-year-old Lionel Messi, with a shy smile and a head of untamed curls, held a six-month-old baby in a blue plastic bathtub. Neither of them knew, in that fleeting moment, that the world would one day look back at the image and see the beginning of something extraordinary.
Almost two decades later, that baby, Lamine Yamal, will face Messi in the FIFA World Cup 2026 final on Sunday in New Jersey, a generational showdown that feels scripted by football’s gods.
Defending champion Argentina secured their place in the title clash with a 2-1 victory over England, setting up a meeting against Spain, the reigning European champions. It will be the first time Messi and Yamal have played against each other, but their story began long before either had kicked a ball on the world’s biggest stage. Spain, meanwhile, thrashed pre-event favourite France 2-0 in the semifinal courtesy of goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedro Porro.
Yamal’s dazzling rise for Spain and Barcelona has inevitably drawn parallels with Messi (AP Photo)The unlikely origin of their connection dates back to a charity raffle organised by the Spanish newspaper Diario Sport and UNICEF in 2007. Local families in Catalonia were offered the chance to participate in a promotional calendar photo shoot with FC Barcelona players. Yamal’s family won one of the slots.
The shoot took place inside the Camp Nou dressing room. Messi, then a rising star for Barcelona, was paired with the infant Yamal. The resulting image, Messi holding Yamal in a plastic bathtub, was published in the 2008 charity calendar and largely forgotten.
That changed during the 2024 European Championship, when Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, posted the photo on Instagram with the caption: “The beginning of two legends.”
Now, almost 20 years after that photo shoot, the baby from the picture and the legend himself are set to face each other on the biggest stage in football.
