The finest player in history and the player poised to succeed him on Barcelona's right wing will meet for the first occasion when Argentina face Spain in Sunday's World Cup final.

With Lionel Messi now aged 39 and Lamine Yamal only 19, it highlights the veteran's ongoing drive and the youngster's early brilliance that a game involving both is feasible at all, let alone in the biggest match in the sport.

Yet this marks far from the initial encounter between the pair.

That took place in 2007, when a 20-year-old Messi had just established himself as a regular in the Barcelona side, and Yamal was merely five months old.

The occasion is captured in a collection of images shot by Joan Monfort.

They reappeared two years earlier, after Yamal aided Spain to Euro 2024 glory, when his father shared one online under the heading "The start of two legends".

In the shots, a beaming Messi holds and bathes a small infant who would go on to trace such a similar path in the game.

"It represents a genuine twist of fate", Monfort explains to BBC Sport.

"It is chance - when you uncover something truly remarkable, far greater than anticipated.

"If this appeared in a movie it would seem unlikely."

By the time he reached 19 Messi had netted 11 goals in his career and claimed La Liga plus the Champions League on one occasion each.

Now 19 since Monday, Yamal has already found the net 56 times and secured La Liga on three occasions along with the Copa del Rey once, plus Euro 2024.

Yamal does not serve as the player's actual family name, but instead the second of his two given names.

His complete name is Lamine Yamal Naraoui Ebana, and he displays the first two on his shirts for Barcelona and Spain to honor a pair of individuals who supported his family near the time of his arrival.

Reports across Spanish outlets indicate Yamal's father vowed to name him after two companions who aided the household with funds during a period of financial strain.

Lamine represents a frequent Arabic male name, which translates in English to honest or reliable, while Yamal forms a version of Jamal, signifying grace or appeal.

He was raised in Rocafonda, a modest district in Mataro, roughly 20 miles north of Barcelona.

The zone was constructed in the 1960s to accommodate arrivals from other parts of Spain, and as they shifted toward wealthier zones, newcomers from abroad settled in the 1990s.

Yamal has marked several of his goals by forming a 3-0-4 sign with his hand, nodding to Rocafonda's postal code.

"What my mother achieved, what my father achieved, I could never have managed that for anyone outside my own child", Yamal shared with El Pais earlier in the event.

"Without funds, it proves tough to support your child in football. And my parents succeeded in making it all possible. It is something I can never fully repay them for."