When Messi And Yamal Once Shared A Bathtub. Now They Meet In A World Cup Final

By Gopal Ram Tripathi

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ARGENTINA REACHED THE World Cup final after beating England 2-1. They will now play European champions Spain on Sunday, July 19, 2026. On the field, it will be the first time former Barcelona star Lionel Messi, 39, and young Barcelona talent Lamine Yamal, 19, ever play against each other.

But it is not really their first meeting. The two actually met before, many years ago, when Yamal was just a baby and Messi was only 20 years old and still new to the game. There’s an FC Barcelona connection between them.

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When Baby Yamal Met His Footballing Idol in a Bathtub 

The story came back online two years ago. Old photos appeared while Yamal was playing well for Spain at Euro 2024. The photos show a young Messi giving baby Yamal a bath in a small plastic tub. A photographer named Joan Monfort took the pictures. Yamal's father, Mounir Nasraoui, later shared one of the photos on Instagram. He said it showed the start of two legends.

The photos came from a charity photo shoot. A newspaper in Catalonia worked with UNICEF to pair Barcelona players with local families. Yamal's family lived in a neighborhood called Roca Fonda in Mataró. They entered a UNICEF raffle for a chance to meet a Barcelona player and take a photo at the Camp Nou stadium. They won.

That is how, in 2007, baby Yamal and his mother, Sheila Ebana, ended up in a locker room with Messi. Monfort later said the shoot felt awkward. He said Messi was shy and did not know how to hold the baby at first. Yamal's mother had to help him. Monfort also said he never expected the photo to become so famous years later.

Nobody in that room knew what would happen next. Messi went on to become Barcelona's all-time top scorer before he left the club, 15 years after that photo was taken. Yamal, on the other hand, was just starting a journey that would one day put him face to face with the same man who once held him as a baby.

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Messi and Yamal: From A Locker Room Photo To A World Cup Final

Yamal has grown up fast. He played his first game for Barcelona at just 15 years, 9 months, and 16 days old, making him one of the youngest players in the club's history. Since then, he has won three Spanish league titles and the European Championship with Spain in 2024. By the time he turned 19 this week, he was already seen as one of the best players in the world. Yamal dreamt of facing Lionel Messi in the FIFA World Cup when he replied to a question in an interview. Previously, Copa America Champion Argentina was set to face Euro Champion in the 2026 Finalissima, but was cancelled by FIFA. The decision was made due to rising security tensions in the Middle East and the inability of UEFA, CONMEBOL, and the respective federations to agree on an alternative date or neutral venue. 

Many people already call Yamal the next Messi. But he still has a long way to go to match the Argentine Legend Messi, who has won the Ballon d'Or eight times and is often called the greatest player ever. Beating Messi's Argentina in a World Cup final would be a big step toward that goal. Fans are giving this meeting a name, “Barcelona Star vs Barcelona Himself.”

What started as an awkward photo shoot in a Barcelona locker room almost 20 years ago has turned into a sweet, surprising story. Back then, it was just a chance meeting between a shy young player and a baby whose family received a blessing. Now, that baby has grown into one of the brightest stars in football, standing on the other side of his idol in a World Cup final. Whatever happens on Sunday, this old story adds a warm, personal touch to a match that already means so much to football fans everywhere.

(Edited By Harsh Pandey)

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