What common path did Messi and Yamal share in football?

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Messi and Yamal both rose through Barcelona’s youth system before reaching the first team
Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal share a football path that runs through the same Barcelona academy route. Both progressed from Barcelona’s famous youth setup into the first team and later became internationally known players. Their early connection goes back to a charity photo shoot in December 2007, when Messi was a 20-year-old first-team player and Yamal was a five-month-old baby.
They both came through the Barça academy into the first team
Both players developed through Barcelona’s well-known academy. In both cases, that pathway led them into the club’s first team, before they went on to earn international fame.
Their shared connection traces to a 2007 charity photo shoot
The link between them dates to December 2007, when Messi took part in a charity calendar shoot organised by Barcelona and its shirt sponsors, including children’s relief organisation Unicef. At the time, Messi was 20, while Yamal was five months old and was cradled and bathed in a plastic tub as part of the shoot.
The photo shoot later resurfaced publicly in 2024
The photos were first shared with the public in 2024 by Yamal’s father. This came around the time Yamal, then 17, had his breakthrough at the Euros, bringing renewed attention to the long-running connection to Messi.
Their later careers brought them to the same World Cup final stage
Messi later described it as “crazy” that he and Yamal would both be in a World Cup final. The New York media event ahead of Sunday’s final in New Jersey framed their story as almost 19 years after they first crossed paths in that iconic early photo shoot.

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What common path did Messi and Yamal share in football?

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