Lamine Yamal reveals what Lionel Messi said after Spain's victory over Argentina in the World Cup final, and explains why he did everything so that the famous photograph of the bath he gave him as a child was not known to the public.
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26/09/2026
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Lamine Yamal granted an extensive interview to this Saturday edition of the British newspaper The Guardian, in which he clarified once and for all what he said to Lionel Messi, in the prolonged embrace between them that succeeded Spain's victory over Argentina, in the final of the last World Championship, by 1-0.
“ I said ‘Thank you for everything you gave to football’. I don’t do things to look good in the photograph, it came from within”, assured the ‘star’ of Barcelona, who still took the ‘leave’ to explain why he did everything he could to ensure that no one knew it was the child to whom La Pulga had bathed, in UNICEF’s famous photograph.
“ I told my father not to divulge it. He posted it on Facebook once, and I told him to delete it. Comparisons were too easy, that would be the only thing people would talk about. I wanted to be Lamine, I didn't want to be Messi. I just wanted to get where I was going. I asked him to wait. ‘When I am Lamine, do whatever you want’, he shot.
“It wasn’t just this year that I was at Golden Ball level”
Lamine Yamal then returned to the race for the conquest of the Golden Ball, a trophy given annually by France Football magazine to the best player in the world, in which he continues to be appointed as one of the top favorites, along with Kylian Mbappé (of Real Madrid) and Fabián Ruiz (of Paris Saint-Germain).
“ To be completely honest, it's not just this year that I've been at the Golden Ball level, but there's more. Everybody knows that. They know I make a difference. I think people think ‘The Lamine is 19 years old, will beat it at a certain time, so let’s choose another...’”, reflected the young promise.
“ I just have to win, win, win, and then there will come a time when there will be no debate. There will be people who love me, people who will say ‘It sucks that he is’, and it’s okay with that (...). I'll never say ‘Who are you? I won the World Cup’. Only stupid people would do that. I know football is 0.000001% of life,” he added.
“Players like me have that special spark”
Finally, Lamine Yamal returned to ‘getting’ in the World Cup final, this time, to reflect on his own way of playing: “A side will have a coach who says ‘OK, what Lamine does is...’. I think of him as a robot trying to stop me. Robots can be almost perfect, but a human will have something that a robot does not have.”.
“ Football is mechanized, but there are players like me, Pedri or many others, who have that special spark. There's a natural Neymar movement, where it stops, simulates and goes the other way. I've seen a lot of videos of him. I try to play with the opponents and ensure that they can not mechanize me, who do not know where I go ", pointed.
“In football, there is no fear. I saw my mom go through a lot of trouble so I could play football. I saw my dad walking down the street picking up junk for me to eat. That's fear. Now, if I had a son, I could take care of him. If my mom or dad need anything, I can help. Now, I am not that afraid”, he concluded.