World Cup final 2026: The remarkable photos of Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal's first meeting as they prepare to face off

Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal will play against each other for the first time when Argentina face Spain in Sunday's World Cup final.

The showpiece fixture pits the player considered by many to be the greatest of all-time against the pretender to his throne who now occupies his old position for Barcelona.

They are at opposite ends of their careers, separated in age by two decades, but remarkably, they first met 19 years ago, in 2007, when Messi was 20 and Lamine Yamal was a six-month-old.