It won’t be the first time Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal cross paths ahead of Sunday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup final. In fact, the Argentine icon and Spain’s young star shared a photoshoot nearly two decades ago when Yamal was just a few months old. Now, Messi is 39, and Yamal is 19, and the two are set to face each other on soccer’s biggest stage. It’s the kind of full-circle moment that even NFL legend Pat McAfee admits he’s still trying to wrap his head around.

“I refuse to believe that this is baby Lamine Yamal being actually baptized by Messi…” McAfee wrote on Instagram, while sharing a picture of Messi with Yamal from 19 years ago. “They’re saying this is real. These 2 play against each other 19 years later in the World Cup Final. NO F***ING WAY 😂😂.”

Pictures of Messi and Yamal from their iconic photoshoot went viral ahead of the Semi-Finals. It’s not the first time the photos have resurfaced, as Yamal’s father posted these pictures on social media a couple of years ago, when the 19-year-old helped Spain win Euro 2024.

“The beginning of two legends,” Yamal’s father wrote.

Fast forward to today, and the photos have resurfaced ahead of the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain. According to reports, the photoshoot took place in 2007, when Messi was still with FC Barcelona and just 20 years old, and Yamal was just six months old.

Joan Monfort, the photographer behind the shoot, later revealed that it was part of a charity calendar organized through an annual initiative by Diario Sport and UNICEF. Barcelona players posed alongside children and their families, and Yamal’s family was paired with Messi. In one of the now-viral photos, Yamal’s mother can be seen standing beside the Argentine legend.

During the photoshoot, Messi posed while bathing baby Yamal in a bathtub. However, the photoshoot for Messi wasn’t an easy process, considering his introverted nature.

“Messi is a pretty introverted guy, he’s shy,” Monfort said. “He was coming out of the locker room and suddenly he finds himself in another locker room with a plastic tub full of water and a baby in it. It was complicated. He didn’t even know how to hold him at first.”

During that photoshoot, everyone got a glimpse of who long-haired Messi would eventually become. Few, however, could have imagined the career that awaited Yamal. Now, Spain is headed to the 2026 FIFA World Cup final after a 2-0 victory over France, where it will meet Messi and Argentina, who punched their ticket with another narrow win after defeating England 2-1.