Photographs taken in 2007 have gone viral again, revealing that Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal met almost two decades before facing each other in Sunday's World Cup final between Argentina and Spain. The images show a 20-year-old Messi bathing and cradling a five-month-old Yamal in Barcelona's Camp Nou dressing room, a moment photographer Joan Monfort has described as "a true miracle of destiny" given how both players' careers have since intertwined at Barcelona and on the international stage.

The meeting came about after Yamal's parents won a raffle organised by Catalan newspaper Sport and Unicef, which offered families the chance to have their newborn photographed with a Barcelona first-team player; Yamal was paired with Messi purely by chance. Monfort recalled that Messi, normally shy and introverted, initially looked unsure how to handle a baby but quickly adapted professionally. The two never crossed paths again until this World Cup final, by which point Messi, now 39, had built the greatest career in the sport's history, while Yamal, who turned 19 this week, has already scored 56 goals and won three La Liga titles, the Copa del Rey and Euro 2024.