Argentina captain Lionel Messi has spoken about the "crazy" coincidence of facing Spain's Lamine Yamal in Sunday's World Cup final, having been photographed holding him as a baby back in 2007. The moment came during a Fifa fan event and news conference in New York on Friday night, where Messi appeared alongside NFL legend Tom Brady, who described the old photographs as "very prophetic." The exchange highlights the remarkable career arc of Yamal, who has gone from infant subject of a charity photoshoot to one of the world's best players facing his boyhood idol on football's biggest stage.

In 2007, Yamal's parents won a charity photoshoot at Barcelona in which a 20-year-old Messi held their five-month-old son; Yamal later made his Barcelona debut aged 15 and inherited Messi's iconic number 10 shirt. Now 19, Yamal helped Spain win Euro 2024 and could become the youngest player to win both the Euros and the World Cup, prompting 39-year-old Messi to call him "one of the best in the world right now" while vowing Argentina would try to stop him. The event also saw Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni reunite with Spain counterpart Luis de la Fuente, and featured a separate on-stage altercation between Brady and Logan Paul.