Victor Wembanyama will have a problem when the World Cup final kicks off at MetLife Stadium. The San Antonio Spurs superstar has two players he wants to see shine on soccer’s biggest stage. The problem? He cannot bring himself to root for either team.

It is quite the dilemma for someone whose connection to the sport stretches back to his childhood in France. But with his country out of contention, Sunday’s final has left the 22-year-old in an unusual position.

Speaking with Roger Bennett at the Men in Blazers panel during Fanatics Fest NYC, Wembanyama made his feelings clear. “I don’t know. I like neither teams. I don’t like either. I mean, I like Messi and Yamal, and I hope they have great games. Messi is my GOAT. But unfortunately, they play on teams I hate. So, I hope nobody wins.”

The declaration settles a question Wembanyama had not previously answered publicly: Messi is his pick in soccer’s enduring GOAT debate. Yet admiration for the Argentine icon and for Spain’s 19-year-old sensation apparently is not enough to make him choose a side.

His investment in the tournament runs deeper than picking a winner. “It barely ever gets better than the World Cup. Very few sports events creates emotions, at least to me, as much as the World Cup did.”

That connection goes back to Wembanyama’s childhood. Before committing to basketball, he played goalkeeper for Entente Le Chesnay Versailles from roughly ages seven to 10. The sport never completely left his life, either. Wembanyama remains a devoted Paris Saint-Germain supporter and still plays soccer recreationally during the summer.

“I love playing football,” Wembanyama said. “I play in the summer, but I got to say it’s always a frustrating, because you don’t score. Basketball you score every other offense, you know what I mean? Football, you will score once or twice that’s already a lot. But what makes it good is that when you finally score, when your team finally scores, and you feel that much better.”

For a French supporter, however, the two finalists come with some painful recent history. Argentina denied France back-to-back World Cup titles in 2022, prevailing 4-2 on penalties after a 3-3 thriller. Messi scored twice before converting in the shootout, while Wembanyama’s friend and countryman Kylian Mbappé became only the second player to score a hat trick in a World Cup final.

Spain, meanwhile, has become an even more immediate roadblock for France. After eliminating Les Bleus 2-1 in the Euro 2024 semifinals, Spain ended another French title bid with a 2-0 shutout in this World Cup’s semifinals. Yamal has been involved in both heartbreaks, scoring a spectacular equalizer against France in 2024 before winning the penalty that opened the scoring in their 2026 semifinal.

There is another layer to Wembanyama singling out Messi and Yamal. Sunday’s final marks the first time the two will face each other on a soccer pitch, nearly two decades after a 20-year-old Messi famously posed with a five-month-old Yamal during a 2007 charity photoshoot for a calendar produced by Diario Sport and UNICEF. Now Yamal wears Barcelona’s No. 10, the number Messi made iconic during his years at the club.

The admiration goes both ways. “That photo is incredible… the fact that we’re both playing in the World Cup now is crazy,” Messi said of their unlikely connection. “I wish him luck because his success will be Barcelona’s success, (but) we’ll try to keep him from playing at his best.”

So when Argentina and Spain meet at MetLife Stadium, Wembanyama’s rooting interest will be unusually simple. He wants his GOAT and one of soccer’s brightest young stars to deliver on the biggest stage. As for which one lifts the World Cup afterward? In Wemby’s own words: “I hope nobody wins.”