Sunday’s World Cup Final at New York-New Jersey Stadium will be headlined by one of the more tantalizing, dichotomous matchups of the entire tournament, pitting the 39-year-old maestro of Argentina, Lionel Messi, against Spain’s 19-year-old wunderkind, Lamine Yamal.
While this is the first time they will play each other, the two have never been far apart in the soccer universe’s mythos. Yamal has been a force on the global stage for four years already, having won a European championship as a 16-year-old with Spain and being considered the next big thing to accept the torch from the aging Messi.
The winger wears the same No. 10 shirt on the same Barcelona team where Messi became a legend, excelling at the very same right-wing position. For that, they were always going to be connected in some way. Now, they face each other at very different flashpoints of their careers.
Yamal is still in the thick of his ascent as one of the world’s greatest. A World Cup title would add to an already teeming trophy cabinet that would put him on a very similar — if not better — trajectory as France’s Kylian Mbappe, who burst onto the scene in the latter half of the previous decade and won a World Cup as a 19-year-old in 2018.
It has been a somewhat quiet World Cup for Yamal. He overcame injury issues just to be here and has been limited to one goal in seven matches, though he did win the penalty that put Spain ahead in its semifinal against Mbappe and France on Tuesday. La Roja are here mostly because of an immovable defense, which has allowed just one goal in seven matches, and became the first team in World Cup history to post six clean sheets.
Still, it feels as though Yamal will have to do something special to find Spain a second-ever World Cup title. And if he is to take the torch from Messi, he will have to wrench it from his vice-like grasp.
This should be it for Messi’s career in an Argentina shirt, and it could potentially end on the highest of highs. Argentina has won each of its last three major tournaments — the Copa America in 2021 and 2024 and the World Cup in 2022 — and could be the first team ever to win four consecutive major trophies should it find a way to beat Spain.
Finding a way has been Argentina’s mantra all tournament, as it has defied the odds time and time again to survive and advance. La Albiceleste outlasted Cape Verde in extra time in the Round of 32, overcame a 2-0 deficit late to beat Egypt in the Round of 16, used a controversial man advantage to come back to beat Switzerland in the quarterfinal, then scored a pair of goals in less than seven minutes late in the second half to stun England in the semifinal.
Messi has been in the middle of it all, leading the way with eight goals and assisting on both of Argentina’s tallies late in the semifinal.
So, here we are at the apex of this collision course between these star-crossed combatants. Yet, their story begins long before this, which is why this World Cup Final in the shadow of New York City has such a heavy feeling of destiny.
Messi and Yamal’s story really began 19 years ago, in 2007, when a 20-year-old Messi, who had recently become a starter for the La Liga giants, was asked to participate in a photoshoot at the Camp Nou organized by Spanish newspaper Sport and Barcelona’s shirt sponsor and international children’s charity, Unicef. The event was for the winners of a raffle, who had the chance to have their baby pose with a member of Barcelona’s first team.
Yamal’s parents, Mounir Nasraoui and Sheila Ebana, won, and upon their arrival at the Camp Nou, had their five-month-old son, Lamine, randomly paired with none other than Messi.
🚨🇪🇸🇦🇷 Lionel Messi with Lamine Yamal as a baby back in December 2007, from Spanish newspaper @sport.
It was a photoshoot organised for a charity calendar. pic.twitter.com/C7jCKbYnp7
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) July 5, 2024
It’s funny how fate works. We will see just what it has in store for us on Sunday afternoon at the New York-New Jersey Stadium, with kick-off for the World Cup Final slotted for 3 p.m. ET.
For more on Messi, Yamal, and the World Cup, visit AMNY.com
