Lamine Yamal revealed what he told Lionel Messi after the World Cup final

There are images that transcend the result of a match and become forever associated with a story. This happened with the embrace between Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal after the 2026 World Cup final, a scene of generational contrasts that once again put face to face the player who was an idol of the Spaniard and the young man who, at just 19 years old, is already charting his own path in the elite.

In the lead-up to the match between Spain and England for the Nations League, Yamal recalled in a conversation with The Guardian what he told the Argentine captain at that moment. The forward explained that, amid the emotion of the celebration, he was direct and limited himself to thanking him for his career: "Thank you very much for everything you have done for football. Know that you have always been the best. I didn't say that last part, I just said that (the first part) which was short, but I have always thought you were the best, before winning the World Cup, before winning the Copa América, when things seemed not to be going so well but you were undoubtedly the best".

The scene had even greater significance due to the background that connects both. In 2007, when Yamal was still a baby, Messi appeared in a photograph from a charity campaign by Barcelona and UNICEF while bathing him. The image remained out of circulation for years and was only made public in 2024, when comparisons between the two began to multiply.

When asked about the symbolism of those snapshots, Yamal assured that he tries to stay out of such situations and explained that the embrace with Messi came about spontaneously. "I always try to step away from what is beautiful in football, from things that look nice for the photo. It came from within, I saw him there, I went to thank him for what he had done for football and it came from within. Then in the end, yes, the photo of when he bathed me and the embrace does look very nice", he expressed.

The story behind the 2007 photograph also has a particular detail. Yamal revealed that he himself had asked his father not to share the image. "I told him not to do it. He posted it on Facebook once and I told him to delete it. The comparisons were too easy, that was all people talked about", he said.

Far from wanting to be identified with his reference, the Barcelona forward explained that he has always sought to build his own identity. "I wanted to be Lamine; I didn't want to be Messi. I just wanted to get as far as I could. I asked him to wait. When I am Lamine, I will do what I want", he affirmed.