Why Messi vs. Yamal, Argentina vs. Spain is already an extraordinary World Cup final

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Spain star Lamine Yamal and Argentina's all-time great Lionel Messi, both seen here playing in recent World Cup matches. (David Ramos/Getty, Elsa/Getty)


On Sunday, after 37 days, 103 games and 46 eliminated teams, the World Cup final will be played.

Argentina vs. Spain. A battle of No. 1 versus No. 2 teams in the world.

Quite a build up to get to a matchup we might have predicted from the outset.

Of course, it isn't that simple. Currently top-ranked Argentina and second-ranked Spain have ping-ponged, along with France, among the top three spots in the world for most of the past two years.

But neither of the finalists have looked exceptionally dominant over the five weeks of the World Cup. The hype of the final shouldn't blur the memories of the paths taken to get here. If it does, Cape Verde would like a word. The tiny island nation held Spain to a 0-0 tie in group play and forced Argentina into overtime in the first knockout round before falling 3-2.

Now, with the elimination of both France, the team that actually did look dominant until Spain suffocated Les Bleus in the semifinal, and self-destructive England, we are left with a delectable final.

South America vs. Europe. The reigning World Cup champions vs. the reigning European Champion. An unstoppable force in Lionel Messi against an immovable object in Spain's organized, end-to-end control.

And, best of all, the aging superstar Messi against the teenage phenom Lamine Yamal.

If you need any evidence that the world works in mysterious ways, take a look at the photos of 20-year–old Messi bathing five-month-old Lamine Yamal, publicity photos snapped in 2007 for a charity calendar featuring Barcelona players and Spanish children. There is the legend himself, still early in his Barca career, awkwardly washing Yamal in a blue plastic tub, smiling at the baby alongside Yamal's young mother, and holding Yamal wrapped in a towel.

Messi, now 39, was then just three years into his remarkable Barcelona career, which is now five years in the past. He was a year older than Yamal is now; Yamal just turned 19 this week. Seven years later, the chubby baby in the tub would join Barcelona's youth academy and is now projected as the heir to Messi, the club's next transcendent superstar.

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This 2007 photo shows a 20-year-old Lionel Messi, who had embarked on his legendary Barcelona career just over four years prior, helping bathe Lamine Yamal, who was merely six months old at the time with Yamal's mother Sheila Ebana. (Joan Monfort/Associated Press)


Eighteen-and-a-half years after those remarkable photos were taken, the two players will face off for soccer's greatest trophy. Eight of the players on Spain's team, including Yamal, wear the Barcelona jersey and it seems natural some may be starstruck to play against their club's most famous star, even if Messi currently plies his trade in MLS.

But this Spain team doesn't seem fazed by much. La Roja are coming into their own, peaking at the right moment. They've only conceded one goal the entire tournament, to Belgium in the quarterfinal. Spain is confident, calm and in control. Their clinical domination of France makes them a hard team to pick against.

Argentina, in contrast, seems to be surfing a wave of emotion, beneficial calls and the force of Messi. Though there has been a lot of outrage over the officiating breaks Argentina got in knockout games against Egypt and Switzerland, leading to social media conspiracy theories and posts that FIFA actually stands for Fixing It For Argentina, the victory over England can be attributed as much to Three Lions manager Thomas Tuchel's bizarre tactical decisions as to Argentina's superiority or schemes to keep the Messi gravy train going.

Tuchel seemed to have watched the Ted Lasso "park the bus" episode before the match, deciding to have his players play the final 40 minutes protecting a 1-0 lead by retreating deep in their own half of the field, abandoning the aggressive approach they showed earlier. It's the kind of tactic an overmatched high school team might take, not a world class side, with elite strikers. But Tuchel's backward strategy ceded space to the opponent, allowing attack after attack from Argentina and the world sensed it was just a matter of time. Indeed, two quick goals in the 85th and 92nd minutes ended England's chances.

Tuchel had harshly criticized his players following their victory over Norway. Yet after the semifinal elimination, he said he had "no regrets" about how he coached.

The outcome was Argentina advancing to its seventh World Cup final. The Argentinians have won four times and will be looking to become the first repeat champion since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. Spain has only been to the finals once, winning in 2010.

But this could be a passing of the torch. A process that was improbably started almost 19 years ago, in a plastic blue bathtub on a Spain photo set. The world, and the World Cup, works in mysterious ways.

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This article originally published at Why Messi vs. Yamal, Argentina vs. Spain is already an extraordinary World Cup final.

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