BBC Sport explores a bond between two world-class footballers from different generations who appear bound by destiny

The greatest footballer of all-time and the heir to his crown on the right wing at Barcelona will face each other for the first time when Argentina play Spain in Sunday's World Cup final. Given Lionel Messi is now 39 and Lamine Yamal just 19, it is testament to the former's relentless perseverance and the latter's precocious talent that a match featuring both can take place at all, never mind in the sport's greatest fixture. That happened in 2007, when a 20-year-old Messi had recently become a regular starter for Barcelona, and Lamine Yamal was only five months old. They resurfaced two years ago, when Lamine Yamal helped Spain win Euro 2024, as his father posted one online with the caption "The beginning of two legends". In the photos, a smiling Messi is cradling and bathing a tiny baby boy who would inexplicably follow so closely in his footballing footsteps. "It is serendipity - when you find something extra special, so much bigger than you ever thought. The photoshoot took place in the away dressing room at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium. His parents, Morocco-born Mounir Nasraoui and Sheila Ebana from Equatorial Guinea, met after moving to Catalonia as children with their own families.