With Spanish and FC Barcelona footballer Lamine Yamal becoming a world champion at the age of only 19, the teenager has revealed the advice from Lionel Messi following the FIFA World Cup 2026 final against Argentina. With Yamal lifting a crestfallen Messi after the latter’s side lost the chance to defend their title successfully, the teenager revealed that the 39-year-old imparted him an advice ‘as valuable as the medal’. What was the advice from Messi?
What advice did Lamine Yamal give Lionel Messi after the FIFA World Cup 2026 final between Spain and Argentina?
Notably, Messi and Yamal go away back. While his illustrious years with FC Barcelona, a 20-year-old Argentinian legend took part in a UNICEF photoshoot where he was captured giving a five-month old Yamal a bath. The video started doing rounds comprehensively before the World Cup final. Meanwhile, the teenage prodigy revealed the below advice imparted to him by the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, saying, as quoted by ESPN:
“He told me to keep going my way and that the future belongs to our generation. Those words mean as much to me as the gold medal around my neck. He’s someone I’ve always admired. At the end of the match, I showed him my respect.”
FIFA World Cup 2026 Final: Did Lamine Yamal score the winning goal for Spain against Argentina?
While Yamal played an integral role in Spain’s road to the final and in the high-voltage clash against Argentina, Ferran Torres was the scorer as it came in the 106th minute. Their goal in the 95th minute was notably disallowed despite Nico Williams’ shot finding the net. However, the goal was reportedly ruled out due to the referee Slavko Vinčić calling it a foul as Mikel Merino was found to be stepping foot on Nicolas Otamendi’s foot in the box. But Torres’ goal was enough for Spain to secure a win.
The Barcelona forward reacted to the win by stating that the destiny was written but admitted that Lionel Messi’s presence in the opposition worried them. Torres said, as quoted by The Independent.co.uk:
“I think in the end the goal came from 47m people, not just those of us that are here. Today destiny was written, it was made for us to win. We’re far from our people today but we tried to be as close as possible to them. Finals are hard. When you have [Lionel] Messi on the opposing team, you do get worried but we always backed ourselves and tried to show our football and I think we managed to do it once again.”
Although the loss meant that Messi would retire from international football, he hasn’t announced it officially.
