With both semi-finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the US, Canada, and Mexico ending in victories, the defending champion Argentina and European Cup champions Spain advance to the final. They will compete for the championship of this World Cup on July 20th, Beijing time.
In this match, 39-year-old Argentine star Messi will face 19-year-old Spanish rookie Yámal in their first encounter. Interestingly, these two players have a history of interaction; they had already met each other nineteen years ago.
Yamal and Messi
In 2007, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo and the United Nations Children's Fund organized a charity event. The Yamar family was fortunate to get the chance to take calendar photos with Lionel Messi, who was then playing in Barcelona. At that time, 20-year-old Messi bathed the only-month-old Yamar, leaving behind a classic “Yamar being bathed” photo.
In 2007, during a charity calendar photo shoot, 20-year-old Messi was bathing the baby Yamila.
FOX Sports reported that after the 2024 European Championship, Yamaer's father posted photos from the event on social media, captioning them with "This is the beginning of a legend." These photos quickly became popular online.
Nearly twenty years later, the two people in the photo will face each other for the first time on a football field. This “bathtub derby” also adds an interesting dimension to the stage of the World Cup final.
