The story behind the picture 

It all began in the fall of 2007, when Diario Sport, the Catalan newspaper, partnered with UNICEF, one of Barcelona’s longtime charitable partners, to produce a calendar for 2008, a format that was especially popular across Europe at the time. The idea was to shoot pictures of the first team with kids from the Barcelona area. To make it happen, UNICEF created a contest in the Rocafonda neighborhood in the Spanish city of Mataró, close to Barcelona, and the parents of Yamal participated and were selected to be part of it.

“Back then, nobody could imagine that this baby would be who he is now and you could not have known that Messi would become who he became, either,” Joan Monfort, then a freelance photographer for the Associated Press, told The Athletic in a 2024 interview. 

“We are talking about 2007. Messi was only beginning at Barca then. Destiny plays an important role in these things. Messi is a pretty introverted guy, he’s shy. He was coming out of the locker room and suddenly he finds himself in another locker room with a plastic tub full of water and a baby in it. It was complicated. He didn’t even know how to hold him at first. At the start, there was not much interaction. It was difficult for all of them. But, bit by bit, it started to happen and in the end, it’s a pretty good photo.”

The picture became viral again in 2024 when the father of Yamal, Mounir Nasraoui, shared it again on his social media, telling the story and comparing his son with the Argentinian legend.

“The beginning of two legends,” he wrote.

Messi vs. Lamine: A similar story 

It’s not just about a coincidence and a picture. Sunday’s game will feature two of the biggest teams in the world with two world-class stars with a similar story. Messi is from Rosario in Argentina and he was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) as a child and Barcelona decided to cover the costs for his treatments, around $1,000 per month. Messi moved to Barcelona where he started playing with La Masia, the youth system of the Catalan team and all eyes were on him since he was really young. Messi made his World Cup debut as an 18-year-old at Germany 2006, with Diego Armando Maradona watching from the stands. Nineteen years later, Yamal, now 19, will make his own World Cup final appearance with Spain.

Yamal is from Mataró, a town close to Barcelona and his story also started at La Masia. His father is from Morocco while his mother Sheila is from Equatorial Guinea. Yamal was eligible to represent Morocco through his father, Equatorial Guinea through his mother, or Spain, where he was born. He ultimately chose to play for Spain. Like Messi, who built his career at Barcelona before leading Argentina to international glory in the most recent years after some years of struggles, Yamal has emerged through the club’s famed La Masia academy and now stars for both Barcelona and the Spanish national team. Both players faced challenges early in their lives for different reasons, Yamal’s being financial, but now they have the opportunity to make history once again, each in their own way.

Spain’s World Cup history is relatively short but unforgettable. After decades of disappointments, La Roja reached their first final in 2010, beating the Netherlands to lift their first-ever World Cup trophy. Sixteen years later Spain returned to the final, with Yamal leading a new generation chasing a second star after winning the Euros in 2024, while Leo Messi will try to win a back-to-back World Cup with Argentina, something that only happened twice in the history before: Italy in 1934 and 1938 and Brazil in 1958 and 1962, with a young Pelé playing a key role in both wins for the Selecao. Whatever happens, history will be written. The 2026 World Cup could not have scripted a more extraordinary ending.