{"id":4674,"date":"2026-07-17T05:36:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T05:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4674"},"modified":"2026-07-17T05:36:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T05:36:30","slug":"the-world-cup-face-off-between-messi-and-yamal-was-always-meant-to-be-and-i-cant-wait-to-watch-it-play-out-like-a-movie-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4674","title":{"rendered":"The World Cup face-off between Messi and Yamal was always meant to be \u2014 and I can’t wait to watch it play out like a movie finale"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Whoa, baby!<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Spain will take on Argentina in the World Cup final at Metlife Stadium.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump reveals China stole voter registration data from 220M Americans in primetime speech<\/a><\/p>\n

But was this showdown eerily foreshadowed nearly 20 years ago, when a young FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi held and bathed a then chunky baby Lamine Yamal for a charity UNICEF calendar shoot?<\/p>\n

Did the soccer gods set this table? <\/p>\n

And how did a series of incredible images from 2007 prove so prescient?<\/p>\n

It all started with a simple Spanish newspaper raffle to find local Catalonia babies to pose for the charity calendar with players from FC Barcelona.<\/p>\n

A 6-month-old Lamine Yamal was one of the 12 chosen. Of all the featured players \u2014\u00a0including, reportedly, Ronaldinho and legendary defender Carles Puyol and future FC Barcelona manager Xavi Hern\u00e1ndez \u2014\u00a0he was matched with Messi.<\/p>\n

Chosen by chance or fate? We\u2019ll never know. <\/p>\n

In 2023, a 15-year-old Yamal first took the field for Barcelona. He only missed playing with Messi by two years, as the latter left for Paris Saint-Germain and, now, Inter Miami.<\/p>\n

Making this World Cup final even more exciting: It will be the first time that Yamal, 19, and Messi, 39, have ever played against each other.<\/p>\n

The charming calendar photos brought a whole other layer to the Spanish phenom\u2019s emergence. Was there some sort of flow or transfer of powers from Messi to this baby, who would grow up to become an international superstar even before his braces were removed?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the only wacky photographic or video evidence of future athletes interacting with other pros.<\/p>\n

Read more Marco Rubio: America will no longer ignore the threat of left-wing violence<\/a><\/p>\n

US swimmer Katie Ledecky shared a video of herself as a 2-year-old playing peekaboo with Michael Jordan in a suite at a Capitals game \u2014 perhaps an early christening of her elite athleticism, which would debut at the London Olympics when she was only 15.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also an old photo of a 10-year-old Lindsey Vonn meeting her idol Picabo Street at a Minneapolis ski shop in 1995. And we\u2019ve all seen the adorable image of a young Patrick Mahomes shagging fly balls with the Mets\u2019 Mike Hampton in 2000.<\/p>\n

But many of these happened within the confines of fandom, competition or family connections.<\/p>\n

Not in the cradle. Not from a raffle. Not with the universe dictating the terms.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

However, if someone wrote this in a movie script, it\u2019d be torn up and tossed in the trash. Too unbelievable. Too ridiculous. No one is buying it! Maybe for a Marvel origin story, but not for real life.<\/p>\n

As the granddaughter of Spanish immigrants, I\u2019ll be cheering on the entire Spanish squad, especially the workhorse Mikel Oyarzabal and young Nico Williams, who plays for my favorite team, Athletic Bilbao. And, of course, Yamal, who has much more to prove than Messi.<\/p>\n

The GOAT from Rosario, Argentina, already has one World Cup title under his belt, along with eight Ballon d\u2019Or awards.<\/p>\n

Those photos show just how unpredictably and fast life moves. One day Messi is holding a baby for charity. Nearly two decades later, that baby might be holding a golden trophy.<\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | Family of grandmother who was killed falling into open NYC manhole files wrongful death suit against ConEd<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Was the World Cup showdown between Spain and Argentina eerily foreshadowed nearly 20 years ago, when a young FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi held and bathed a then chunky baby Lamine Yamal for a charity UNICEF calendar shoot?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kirsten-fleming","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nThe World Cup face-off between Messi and Yamal was always meant to be \u2014 and I can't wait to watch it play out like a movie finale - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4674\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The World Cup face-off between Messi and Yamal was always meant to be \u2014 and I can't wait to watch it play out like a movie finale - 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