In a scene that combines coincidence and history, two legends, separated by two decades, will clash today in the 2026 World Cup final. Their careers intersected 19 years ago in a human moment that the world could not believe when it saw it
In 2007, during a charity event organized by FC Barcelona, photographer Joan Monfort captured a picture of the 39-year-old Argentine star Lionel Messi bathing a baby, in a scene that seemed fleeting, but time revealed that it was the foundation of one of the strangest dates in football.
The photo, which sparked widespread controversy after it was circulated, and which many refused to believe brought together Messi and Lamine Jamal, the current Spanish star, did not receive official confirmation until Jamal’s father, Munir Nasraoui, posted the photo on Instagram, commenting: “The beginning of two legends.”
Today, after nearly two decades, the encounter is renewed, but this time on the field, where Argentina, seeking its fourth title, meets Spain, searching for its second star, in a confrontation that carries within it a story that began with a child's bath and culminated on the threshold of global glory.
