In 2007, the parents of Spain's Lamine Yamal won a competition to meet a Barcelona player when their son was a baby - and the player in question was Messi, then 20 and a rising star of the team16:00, 16 Jul 2026Lionel Messi faces Spain's teen prodigy in the World Cup final - 19 years after their first extraordinary encounter.‌In 2007, the parents of Spain's Lamine Yamal won a competition to meet a Barcelona player when their son was only five months old. And the player in question was Messi, then 20 and a rising star of the team and Argentina, who defeated England in the 2026 World Cup semi-final.‌Joan Monfort documented the meeting in a series of photographs. 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 said. "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."‌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.‌"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 recalled. "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." Messi still wore number 19 for Barcelona in 2007, only inheriting the number 10 shirt a year later when Ronaldinho left the club."‌By his 19th birthday Messi had scored 11 career goals and won La Liga and the Uefa Champions League once each. Having turned 19 on Monday, Yamal has already scored a whopping 56 goals and won La Liga three times and the Copa del Rey once, as well as Euro 2024.Yamal is not actually the player's surname, but the second of his two first names. His full name is Lamine Yamal Naraoui Ebana, and he wears the former two on the back of his shirts for both Barcelona and Spain as an homage to two people who helped his family around the time of his birth.‌It has been widely reported in Spanish media that Yamal's father promised to name him after two friends who assisted the family financially, helping them to pay their bills at a time when money was tight.Lamine is a common male first name in Arabic. It can be translated to English as honest or trustworthy. Yamal is a variant of Jamal, meaning elegance or beauty.He grew up in Rocafonda, a working-class neighbourhood in Mataro, 20 miles north of Barcelona. Yamal has celebrated some of his goals by making a 3-0-4 gesture with his fingers, referring to Rocafonda's postcode.Article continues belowYamal told El Pais in earlier in the tournament: "What my mother has done, what my father has done, I couldn't have done that for anyone who is not my child. If you don't have money, it's very hard to help your child play football."And my parents managed to make all that happen. It's something I'll never be able to repay them for."