PREVIEW: Messi faces his baptised heir Yamal in epic World Cup final
The first time Lamine Yamal met Lionel Messi, he was a five-month-old baby whose ever-present smile, according to Joan Monfort, the photographer behind their iconic pictures together, melted the Argentine’s heart. But when they both meet again on Sunday, they will be striving to break each other’s hearts.
When the two left-footed wonders lead out Spain and Argentina for the 2026 World Cup final at 8 pm Nigerian time on Sunday, 39-year-old Messi will be the oldest outfield player to feature at this stage of the competition, while 19-year-old Yamal will be one of the youngest to ever do so.
Messi and Yamal’s paths first crossed in 2007. Messi was only starting to establish himself in Barcelona’s first team, having been promoted from La Masia, the club’s academy, a few years earlier. Yamal was the baby of two teenage immigrant lovers trying to eke out a living in Rocafonda, a stigmatised neighbourhood in Barcelona. Sheila Ebana, the mother who hailed from Equatorial Guinea, was 16 when she had Yamal and Mounir Nasraoui, the father who is from Morocco, was even younger. The teenage parents struggled financially during the pregnancy, and they relied on charities from kin and associates to survive. Out of gratitude, they named their son after two of their benefactors: Lamine and Yamal.
While attempting to improve their lot, Yamal’s parents entered a raffle advertised in Sport, a local Catalan newspaper. The lottery was organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which was Barcelona’s shirt sponsor at the time. The raffle randomly selected families to pose with Barcelona players for photos that would be used in UNICEF’s annual calendar the following year.
Each selected family was paired with a player, and, incidentally, when Yamal and his mother arrived, they got Messi. The away dressing room at Camp Nou Stadium was the makeshift photo studio. Amid the delicate smiles and flashing lights, Messi shed a little of his magic in the baby bathtub, and Yamal absorbed it.
Messi played at Barcelona for another 14 years, helping the club to numerous trophies and staking his claim as one of the best footballers ever. He left the club in 2021. Yamal joined La Masia at age six and made his first-team debut for Barcelona at just 16 in 2023. The teenager never looked back. His talent brought stability to Barcelona following its poor performance since Messi left.
In 2025, at just 18, Yamal was given Barcelona’s number 10 jersey, which Messi wore for the majority of his stay at the club. Barcelona had finally found a worthy heir to the impossibly large throne left by Messi.
At the MetLife Stadium, the past and present will face each other for the first time in their respective careers. Messi seeks to further embellish his legacy with another World Cup trophy after leading Argentina to glory in Qatar four years ago. His Argentina side could be only the sixth in history to win consecutive World Cups.
But Lionel Scaloni’s team had to navigate some torrid moments to reach the final. They were held into extra time by debutants Cape Verde in the round of 32. Egypt was two goals ahead of them till the 80th minute in the last 16. They needed another 120 minutes to defeat Switzerland and had to conjure another late piece of magic to get past England in the semis. Often, the team relied on Messi’s brilliance and the favourable chaos it could conjure.
Spain are the opposite. Measured, controlled and tidy. Luis De la Fuente’s side has conceded once throughout the competition. With Rodri as the spine of their midfield, they dictate the tempo of every one of their games. The complete domination of France, hitherto breathtaking, in the semi-final was a demonstration of the Spanish side’s hidden strength.
Several Argentinian players have declared that they are prepared to lay down their souls to get Messi another World Cup, and they are in for a worthy battle as his Spanish heir is just as ready to yank the lives out of anyone standing between him and football’s biggest prize.