* The duo’s history dates back nearly two decades, when a 20-year-old old Messi crossed paths with an infant Lamine during a promotional charity photo shoot in Barcelona
* When the Argentine was then establishing himself as a key player for Spanish club Barcelona
* For the first time in their careers, Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi will face off on the international stage in a full-circle moment in football history
Maravi Express
Following a 2-1 victory over England, defending champions Argentina secured their place in the World Cup final against European champions Spain, setting up a generational matchup between world champion Lionel Messi and prodigy Lamine Yamal.
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Although Sunday’s final in New Jersey marks the first time the 39-year-old Argentina veteran and the 19-year-old Spain winger will play against each other, it is not their first actual meeting.
The duo’s history dates back nearly two decades, when a 20-year-old old Messi crossed paths with an infant Lamine Yamal during a promotional charity photo shoot in Barcelona.
In late 2007, a charity raffle organised by the Spanish sports newspaper, Diario Sport and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Lamine Yamal’s family earned a spot in a promotional photo shoot with a young Lionel Messi.
The raffle offered local families in Catalonia the opportunity to participate in a promotional calendar photoshoot with professional football players from FC Barcelona.
The family of Lamine Yamal, who was only six months old at the time, won one of the raffle slots and the resulting photo session took place inside the Camp Nou stadium dressing room.
The photo shoot included Messi, then a 20-year-old — who was then establishing himself as a key player for Barcelona and was captured holding Lamine in a blue plastic baby bathtub.
At the time of the shoot, the participants had no connection other than the raffle, and the images were archived after publication in the 2008 charity calendar.
The photo from the shoot went viral after it was posted was posted on Instagram by Lamine Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, along with the caption: “The beginning of two legends” following the 2024 Euros.
Almost 20 years after that photo shoot, the baby from the photo and the legend himself are destined to face off on the international stage.
The connection between the two athletes extends beyond their shared history at Barcelona and will now reach the biggest stage in the sport, the FIFA World Cup 2026 final.
The photographer, Joan Monfort, recalls that the session was initially awkward, saying Messi was highly introverted and shy, unsure of how to hold the infant in the plastic baby tub.
The family kept the photos private for over 16 years to prevent unfair expectations. They only went viral when Lamine’s father posted an image during Euro 2024.
Lamine’s family background
His full name is Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana. His father, Mounir Nasraoui, immigrated to Spain from Morocco as a child while his mother, Sheila Ebana, immigrated from Equatorial Guinea.
When his parents were young and facing severe financial hardships, two family friends named Lamine and Yamal stepped up to support them and in gratitude, the parents named their baby after them.
His parents separated when he was three years old. He grew up moving between households in the working-class neighbourhood of Rocafonda in Mataró and Granollers.
His mother worked in fast food and his father took on odd blue-collar jobs to provide for him.
Road to FIFA World Cup™ 2026 final
Spain and Argentina entered the FIFA World Cup™ 2026 as favourites to win the tournament; now the two teams will meet in the final at New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday.
Spain sealed its spot in the final following their 2-0-victory-over-France at Dallas Stadium on Tuesday while Argentina clinched their spot with a 2-1-win-over-England-heat Atlanta Stadium on Wednesday.
Spain
Following a scoreless draw against Cape Verde to open group stage play, Spain has won six straight and neutralised each of their opponents in the knockout rounds.
Spain routed Austria 3-0 in the Round of 32, followed by a 1-0 win over Portugal in the Round of 16 to send Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. packing.
Spain finally conceded, but Mikel Marino scored his second winning goal in as many games in a 2-1 win over Belgium in the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinal win over Belgium also saw the only goal Spain conceded over the course of the tournament.
Against France on Tuesday in the semifinal, Spain was clearly the dominant team and cruised to the 2-1 victory over Les Bleus for La Roja onto the World Cup final.
Argentina
Argentina maintained a perfect record prior to the final, but it has been far from easy for the defending world champions.
Argentina began the tournament in Group J with routs over Algeria and Austria, capped off by a 3-1 win over Jordan and narrowly advanced through the knockout stage with a 3-2-win-against-Cape-Verde in extra time in the Round of 32.
It followed another-hard-fought-2-3-victory-over-Egypt in the Round of 16, also in extra time, and a 3-1 win against Switzerland in extra time time in the quarterfinals.
Key forward players
Lamine Yamal
Lamine Yamal might not appear to be one of the key players to watch in his first World Cup campaign — but don’t count out the No. 1 player in FOX Sports’ Top 100 players at the World Cup 2026.
After scoring a goal in Spain’s 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia in the group stage, Yamal did not register a goal contribution in the subsequent matches, a contrast with his form at Euro 2024 and the 2025 UEFA Nations League.
However, Yamal has shown signs of progression since returning from a hamstring injury suffered before the tournament and is still a big part of Spain’s offense.
“Every time he gets the ball, there’s this real fear in the French team,” Landon Donovan said after Spain’s 2-0 victory over France in the semifinals.
If Yamal can continue to instill fear in defenders in the final, Spain will have a strong opportunity to lift the trophy Sunday.
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi has continued to break records in what is his sixth World Cup appearance. Messi leads the tournament with eight goals, racking up his career total to 21, making him the all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup history.
Messi also picked up a pair of assists against England, adding to his all-time leading tally of 12.
Argentina has proved it can bend but not break, scoring goals late to secure advancement throughout the knockout stages, and with Messi leading the way, you can never count out the defending champions.—Reporting by Fox News; Editing by Maravi Express
Knockout stages results
Round of 32
* South Africa 0-1 Canada
* Jordan 1-3 Argentina
* Brazil 2-1 Japan
* Germany 1(3)-1(4) Paraguay
* Netherlands 1(2)-1(3) Morocco
* Côte d’Ivoire 1-2 Norway
* France 3-0 Sweden
* Mexico 2-0 Ecuador
* England 1-2 DR Congo
* Belgium 3-2 Senegal
* USA 2-0 Bosnia & Herzegovina
* Spain 3-0 Austria
* Portugal 2-1 Croatia
* Switzerland 2-0 Algeria
* Australia 1(2)-1(4) Egypt
* Argentina 3-2 Cape Verde
* Colombia 1-0 Ghana
Round of 16
* Canada 0-3 Morocco
* Paraguay 0-1 France
* Brazil 1-2 Norway
* Mexico 2-3 England
* Portugal 0-1 Spain
* USA 1-4 Belgium
* Argentina 3-2 Egypt
* Switzerland 0(4)-0(3) Colombia
Quarterfinals
* Morocco 0-2 France
* Belgium 1-2 Spain
* Norway 1-2 England
* Argentina 3-1 Switzerland
Semifinals
* France 0-2 Spain
* England 1-0 Argentina
3rd Place Play-off
Saturday
* France v England (23h00)
Final
Sunday
* Spain v Argentina (21h00)
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