Lamine Yamal On Facing Lionel Messi In FIFA World Cup 2026 Final, 19 Years After THAT Viral Photo
Lionel Messi will come face to face with Lamine Yamal in the FIFA World Cup 2026 final on Sunday. It's not the first time that the football stars will meet
Lionel Messi will come face to face with Lamine Yamal in the FIFA World Cup 2026 final on Sunday. It's not the first time that the football stars will meet. In fact, their first meeting happened 19 years ago, and it produced one of the most viral photos in the football world. In 2007, a 20-year-old Messi took part in a UNICEF charity calendar photoshoot organised by the Catalan newspaper Diario Sport. The campaign paired Barcelona players with local families, and by pure chance, Messi was asked to pose with an infant named Lamine Yamal. He gently bathed and held the baby for a series of photographs, never knowing the child would one day become one of football's brightest stars.
Lamine Yamal was recently asked about the photo. "I've grown a little bit, and so has Leo. Hopefully, I can face him in a final, especially because the Finalissima couldn't happen," Yamal told DAZN while reacting to the iconic photograph.
The World Cup final is set, and fittingly, a clash of styles awaits. Lionel Messi - the most prolific goal-scorer in the tournament's history - and defending champion Argentina will take on Spain's defensive juggernaut on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Spain beat France in one semi-final on Tuesday; Argentina, the comeback king of this tournament, rallied to beat England 2-1 in the other semi-final on Wednesday.
Argentina is seeking its fourth title and is looking to become the first back-to-back World Cup champion since Brazil pulled off the feat in 1958 and 1962. Spain is looking for its second title, after winning in 2010.
Argentina leads the tournament in goals scored - 19.
Spain leads the tournament in fewest goals allowed - one.
Something will have to give on Sunday, when the biggest World Cup ever - a 48-team, 104-match extravaganza spread across the U.S., Canada and Mexico - comes to an end.
It's not the Finalissima. It's going to be better.
South American champion Argentina and European champion Spain were supposed to meet in Doha, Qatar, in late March in the Finalissima, a showdown between the teams led by Messi and Lamine Yamal in a prelude to the World Cup.
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