A video of Lionel Messi bathing a crying baby Lamine Yamal… years later, they share the same pitch on football’s biggest stage. The game really does write its own stories. pic.twitter.com/EyjRYX9iRP— BEN (@afc_ben10) July 18, 2026

A video of Lionel Messi bathing a crying baby Lamine Yamal… years later, they share the same pitch on football’s biggest stage. The game really does write its own stories. pic.twitter.com/EyjRYX9iRP

NEW YORK — Lionel Messi says a viral photograph showing him bathing a six-month-old Lamine Yamal nearly two decades ago captures a story almost too improbable for fiction, one that culminates Sunday when the two players face each other for the first time at the international level in the World Cup final.

"That photo is incredible," Messi said Friday. "I took a picture with him when he was a baby ... the fact that we're both playing in the World Cup now is crazy."

The image dates back to 2007, when a 20-year-old Messi and a 6-month-old Yamal were photographed together during a charity calendar shoot inside the FC Barcelona dressing room at Camp Nou. The project was organized by the local newspaper Sport in partnership with UNICEF, and soccer's long odds later paired the two in one of the calendar's featured images.

Nineteen years later, that photograph has resurfaced as one of the enduring storylines of the 2026 World Cup, as the 19-year-old Yamal prepares to face the 39-year-old Messi........

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