Messi and Brady in disbelief over 'prophetic' Lamine Yamal photo

What the report says

BBC Sport reported that Lionel Messi described as “crazy” the prospect of playing against Lamine Yamal in Sunday’s World Cup final, nearly two decades after a now-famous photograph showed Messi holding Yamal as a baby. The Argentina captain spoke at a Fifa-related fans’ event and news conference in New York on Friday, where former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, now a minority owner of Birmingham City, called the image “very prophetic.”

According to the BBC, the photograph was taken in 2007 after Yamal’s parents won a charity photoshoot at Barcelona. Messi was then 20, while Yamal was five months old. The image has gained renewed attention because the two players are now set to meet on the sport’s biggest stage, with Messi leading Argentina and Yamal emerging as a key figure for Spain.

The report noted that Yamal made his Barcelona debut at 15 and later took the club’s number 10 shirt, long associated with Messi. He helped Spain win Euro 2024 and, at 19, could become the youngest player to win both the European Championship and the World Cup. Messi praised Yamal as one of the world’s leading players and a major talent for Barcelona, while also saying Argentina would try to prevent him from deciding the final.

The event also featured Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, Spain captain Rodri, and coaches Lionel Scaloni and Luis de la Fuente, who greeted each other after the news conference. BBC Sport said Rio Ferdinand and Kevin Hart hosted, with Novak Djokovic, Kevin Durant and Brady among those asking questions.