A viral photo from a 2007 UNICEF fundraising photoshoot featuring then-Barcelona star Lionel Messi and a baby Lamine Yamal has made the rounds and increased in notoriety during this World Cup, which will now feature Messi’s Argentina and Yamal’s Spain facing off in the final on Sunday.
On Friday, former NFL quarterback and seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady asked Messi about the photo during an appearance at Fanatics Fest in New York. Margaret Fleming of Front Office Sports relayed the video.
“Honestly, that photo of us is crazy, because — well, that’s life, right? I took a photo with him as a baby, and here we both are, facing off in a World Cup,” Messi said Friday, per Dermot Corrigan and Paul Tenorio of The Athletic.
“Lamine is a huge talent, someone I’ve followed a lot because he plays for a club I love and I always wish him the best, I always want the best for him. And, well, he’s one of the world’s benchmark players at 19 years old, and he has his whole career ahead of him. He has a great opportunity to achieve something historic, which we’ll try our hardest to make sure doesn’t happen this time. I just want to wish him the best.
“It’s crazy. He’s one of the best in the world right now, no doubt about it. And I wish him a lot of luck, because what’s good for him will also be good for Barcelona.”
Yamal, of course, is now starring for Barcelona, the same club that Messi played for from 2004-2021. He helped guide Spain to the 2024 Euro Championship and is now hoping to guide his country to its second World Cup.
Messi, now starring for Inter Miami, is hoping to keep Argentina’s remarkable knockout run alive for one more match as the national team seeks its second straight World Cup and fourth overall.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
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