The football pitch where Spain forward Lamine Yamal developed his game in a working-class, multicultural neighborhood outside Barcelona was alive with excitement Thursday as residents looked ahead with pride to the World Cup final against Lionel Messi's Argentina.
Pedro, 83, talks in front of a jersey of soccer player Lamine Yamal displayed on the wall of Bar El Cordobes in the Rocafonda neighbourhood of Mataro, Barcelona, Spain, July 16, 2026. (Reuters Photo)
"Now that the moment has finally come for them to play against each other, it's incredible," said Keba, an 18-year-old resident of Senegalese descent, referring to Yamal's long-standing admiration for Messi.
Messi, 39, spent the most successful years of his career at Barcelona after rising through the club's famed youth academy.
A now-viral photograph of the Argentine icon bathing a baby Yamal, now 19, has only added to the anticipation surrounding Sunday's World Cup final in New Jersey.
