Some stories are too unbelievable to be written. Yet, football has produced one. Nineteen years after Lionel Messi first met Lamine Yamal during a charity photoshoot in Barcelona, the two will stand on opposite sides in the FIFA World Cup final. Argentina and Spain will battle for football’s biggest prize on Sunday at the New York New Jersey Stadium, turning an unforgettable photograph into one of the sport’s greatest full-circle moments. Back in 2007, Messi was already a Barcelona star. Yamal was just a baby. During a charity calendar shoot organised by Sport newspaper and UNICEF, photographer Joan Monfort captured Messi bathing the infant Yamal in a plastic tub. At the time, it was just another assignment.No one could have imagined that the baby in Messi’s arms would grow up to become Spain’s biggest football star.The journey since then has been remarkable. Messi became one of the greatest players in football history before leaving Barcelona in 2021 after the club’s financial troubles forced his exit. Just two years later, Yamal burst onto the scene at the same club, becoming Barcelona’s next global superstar.Now, the story has come full circle. The 19-year-old Yamal will face Messi, who is 20 years older, in the biggest match in football.
A coincidence that feels like destiny
The famous photographs remained largely forgotten until Yamal’s father shared one on social media during Euro 2024, when the teenager led Spain to the title. The image quickly went viral, and ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final, it has once again become one of the most talked-about pictures in football.Photographer Joan Monfort admitted even he struggles to explain how everything has unfolded.“I have never been a believer or thought that anything was destined to occur, but I am beginning to have my doubts. This is beyond all reasonable explanations,” Monfort told The Associated Press from his home in Barcelona on Friday.Monfort had taken the photographs in 2007 as part of a charity calendar. Yamal’s mother had won a raffle for families from Mataró, near Barcelona, to participate, and by chance her baby was paired with Messi.
‘Better than any film script’
With Messi and Yamal now preparing to meet in a World Cup final, interest in the iconic images has exploded once again.“This has exploded all over the world, and the fact that the final is in the U.S. has given it the extra push,” Monfort said. “And now this has culminated with the final between Messi and Yamal. It is better than any film script.”The Barcelona-based photographer said media organisations across the world have requested the images, while they have also been widely shared on social media without credit.
A difficult choice for a Barcelona fan
For Monfort, Sunday’s final is emotional. Like many Barcelona supporters, he feels connected to both players.“My heart is split. I don’t know if I want Messi or Yamal to win,” said Monfort, a lifelong Barcelona supporter.He explained why both players mean so much to him.“I have an everlasting love for the best player of all time (Messi),” he said, but “Yamal has broken the mold here” and represents a new, diverse Spain, thanks to his parents from Morocco and Equatorial Guinea. “Maybe they can both win. I wouldn’t rule it out after everything we have seen.”From a charity photoshoot in Barcelona to the biggest stage in world football, Messi and Yamal’s journey is the kind of story that feels stranger than fiction. On Sunday, it will have one final chapter at the New York New Jersey Stadium.