Lionel Messi narrowly missed out in the World Cup final, but Spain star Lamine Yamal took a timeout after the final whistle and hugged the Argentina icon
Lamine Yamal wanders off to Lionel Messi as Spain celebrates World Cup success (Image: Reddit)
Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi were briefly together after the World Cup final, but this could spell the end of the Argentine’s career in his home country.
Spain outperformed the South American teams aiming to defend their title and deserved to win. The European champions dominated from start to finish, with Ferran Torres scoring the winning goal in extra time.
This means Yamal, who is still just 19 years old, has won the Euros and the World Cup and continues to rise as one of the game’s superstars. He took time out of Spain’s celebrations to go look for Messi after his full appearance.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was sitting alone on the pitch, but as Yamal walked over him, the Argentine stood up. They hugged and exchanged words with both players, who graduated from Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy.
Yamal previously declared Messi the best player of all time.
This was after a bitter final match in which Leandro Paredes was sent off. Enzo Fernandes was also sent off, becoming the second Argentine to receive a red after a physical confrontation between the losing side after the final whistle.
By his own high standards, Yamal’s impact at the World Cup was limited, especially when compared to his impact at the Euros two years ago. The teenager himself said at the beginning of the tournament that even if Spain won the trophy, few people would remember his individual efforts.
After the match, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente expressed his “heartfelt gratitude” for Yamal and his progress. “He’s been playing great football, but it’s going to help him grow and become an even greater football player than he is now.” “He really sacrificed for the collective good, which is very important for my team. In my opinion, he played a great World Cup.”
The two hugged each other and exchanged words.
Yamal has now won not only the La Liga title, but also major international honors. The only major trophy missing from his cabinet is the Champions League.
Meanwhile, Messi may be ending the chapter of his time with the Argentina national team. Despite being 39 years old, he remains a key figure in the team, but as he said after his full-time appearance, he came up just short in his second World Cup final.
“I will be forever grateful to them for giving us another World Cup final and fighting until the end. They were better, that’s the truth,” he said. “But I’m going to hold onto a huge memory of what they did and how much they deserved to get to this point. We have to give it great legitimacy because it takes a lot to get here.”
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