Lamine Yamal has revealed what he told Lionel Messi after Spain beat Argentina in the World Cup 2026 final in New York last summer.
The Barcelona teenager came up against the GOAT for the first time on the football pitch and had a brief chat on after the final whistle. Yamal has now revealed what he said to Messi as the two embraced.
“I said thank you for everything you gave football. I don’t do things to look nice for the photo; that came from inside,” he told the Guardian.
Yamal also spoke about the
infamous picture of the two for a charity calendar. Messi was photographed with baby Yamal in the bath tub and the Barca star has revealed why his father’s iconic picture only came to light recently.
“Because I told him not to,” Lamine Yamal says. “He put it on Facebook once and I told him to take it down. Comparisons were too easy, that was all people would talk about.
“I wanted to be Lamine; I didn’t want to be Messi. I just wanted to get where I could get. I asked him to wait. When I’m Lamine, do what you want.”
