In September 2007, the Catalan newspaper Sport collaborated with the world-leading children's rights organisation Unicef to produce a calendar for 2008. The idea was to photograph the star players of FC Barcelona together with children from the area around the Spanish metropolis, according to CBS.
Lamine Yamal, then a few months old, and his family were living in Rocafonda in Mataró, a few miles outside Barcelona, when Unicef organised a competition to select children for a photo shoot at "Barça's" home ground, Camp Nou. The Yamal family won and Lamine, who would later become one of the world's biggest football stars himself, ended up in the arms of Lionel Messi.
“Grown a little”
More than 18 years later, Yamal and the 39-year-old Messi will meet on Sunday in New Jersey when Spain takes on Argentina in the final of the World Cup in North America. Earlier in the tournament, Yamal was asked about the photo.
I have grown a little, and I think "Leo" has also grown a little, Yamal told the Dazn platform, according to the newspaper Marca.
Yamal, now an established 19-year-old world star, is constantly compared to Argentine legend Messi. Perhaps not surprisingly, as both were raised at Spanish giants FC Barcelona.
“Fantastic”
"I grew up watching Messi play. He has won everything there is to win and is a great icon in Barcelona. To face him in a World Cup final is fantastic," Yamal said.
Spanish photographer Joan Monfort took the photo almost two decades ago.
"The Spanish newspaper Sport called me at night and asked if it was my picture, I said yes. Then they told me that the baby in the picture is Lamine Yamal," Monfort previously told CNN.
