'A true miracle of destiny' - Messi and Yamal's incredible first meeting

Image source, AP/Joan Monfort Image caption, Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal's history goes back almost two decades By Daniel Austin BBC Sport senior journalist Published 17 minutes ago The greatest footballer of all-time and the heir to his crown on the right wing at Barcelona will face each other for the first time when Argentina play Spain in Sunday's World Cup final. Given Lionel Messi is now 39 and Lamine Yamal just 19, it is testament to the former's relentless perseverance and the latter's precocious talent that a match featuring both can take place at all, never mind in the sport's greatest fixture. But this is far from the first time the two have crossed paths. That happened in 2007, when a 20-year-old Messi had recently become a regular starter for Barcelona, and Yamal was only five months old. The meeting is documented in a series of photographs taken by Joan Monfort. They resurfaced two years ago, when Yamal helped Spain win Euro 2024, as his father posted one online with the caption "The beginning of two legends". In the photos, a smiling Messi is cradling and bathing a tiny baby boy who would inexplicably follow so closely in his footballing footsteps. "It is a true miracle of destiny", Monfort tells BBC Sport. "It is serendipity - when you find something extra special, so much bigger than you ever thought. "If you wrote this in a film it would not seem possible." 'Messi had no idea what to do with a baby' The photoshoot took place in the away dressing room at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium. Yamal's family had won a competition to be there. His parents, Moroccan-born Mounir Nasraoui and Sheila Ebana from Equatorial Guinea, met after moving to Barcelona as children with their own families. Yamal is their eldest child, and shortly after he was born, they entered a raffle run by Catalan newspaper Sport in conjunction with Barcelona shirt sponsor and international children's charity Unicef. Those selected at random would have professional photos taken of their baby with a Barcelona first-team player. Yamal was among the winners, and on the day the family arrived, they were paired with Messi by chance. Image source, AP/Joan Monfort Image caption, Yamal's mother Sheila also took part in the photo shoot "I had no idea it was Yamal in the photo until one my friends called me in 2024 and told me his father had posted it to Instagram," Monfort explains. "Messi is a really introverted guy, very timid and shy. He came into the dressing room and suddenly had to take these photos with a little baby - not even a kid, a proper baby and his face changed like he had no idea what to do! "It is difficult for a young man, but Lamine was a very happy, smiley little baby. His mum Sheila helped us, she was a young girl and they were a very poor family, but they were very nice to work with. "Messi was always a professional in these kinds of things and he adapted to the situation very quickly." Image source, AP/Joan Monfort Image caption, Messi still wore number