Lionel Messi and Lamin Yamal (Image credit: Joan Monfort)
Some stories are so unbelievable that they cannot be written. However, football produced one. Nineteen years after Lionel Messi first met Lamine Yamal during a charity photo shoot in Barcelona, the two will stand on opposite sides of the FIFA World Cup Final.
Argentina and Spain will battle it out for soccer’s biggest prize on Sunday at New York’s New Jersey Stadium, turning an unforgettable photo into one of the greatest sporting moments in history.
In 2007, Messi was already a star for Barcelona. Yamal was just a child. During a charity photo shoot organized by Sport and UNICEF, photographer Joan Monfort captured a photo of Messi bathing baby Yamal in a plastic tub.
At that time, it was just another mission.No one could have imagined that the child in Messi’s arms would grow up to become Spain’s biggest football star.The journey since then has been wonderful. Messi became one of the greatest players in football history before leaving Barcelona in 2021 after the club’s financial problems forced him out. Just two years later, Yamal burst onto the scene at the same club, becoming Barcelona’s next global star.
Now, the story has come full circle. Yamal, 19, will face Messi, 20 years his senior, in the biggest match in football.
Coincidence feels like fate
The famous photos 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 images in football.Photographer Joan Monfort admitted that he finds it difficult to explain how everything happened.“I was never a believer or believe that something was destined to happen, but I began to have doubts. This goes beyond all reasonable explanations,” Monfort told The Associated Press from his home in Barcelona on Friday.Monfort took the photos in 2007 as part of a charity calendar. Yamal’s mother won a raffle for families from Mataró, near Barcelona, to take part, and by chance her child was paired with Messi.
“Better than any movie script”
With Messi and Yamal now set to meet in the World Cup final, interest in the iconic images has sparked once again.“This has spread around the world, and the fact that the final was in the United States gave it an extra boost,” Monfort said. “And now this has culminated in the final between Messi and Yamal. It is better than any movie script.”The Barcelona-based photographer said media organizations around the world requested the images, while they were also shared widely on social media without credit.
Tough choice for Barcelona fans
For Monfort, Sunday’s final will be emotional. Like many Barcelona supporters, he feels a connection to both players.“My heart is divided. I don’t know if I want Messi or Yamal to win,” said Monfort, a lifelong Barcelona fan.He explained why both players mean so much to him.“I have an eternal love for the best player of all time (Messi),” he said, but “Yamal broke the mold here” and represents a new and 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’ve seen.”From a charity photo shoot in Barcelona to the biggest stage in world football, Messi and Yamal’s journey is the kind of story that seems stranger than fiction. On Sunday, she will have her final act at New York’s New Jersey Arena.