Messi, Yamal come full circle in World Cup showdown
Sports
July 18, 2026
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EAST RUTHERFORD, United States (AFP) — When Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal line-up against each other in the World Cup final on Sunday it will mark the closing of an incredible full circle moment that has been two decades in the making.
In 2007, a 20-year-old Messi and Yamal, born in July of that year, posed together in a photo organised by UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), the global agency which provides humanitarian and development to children and mothers worldwide.
Yamal’s family had entered and won a raffle to pose with a Barcelona player for a 2008 UNICEF calendar.
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