Comparing Lamine Yamal’s first World Cup campaign to Lionel Messi’s | OneFootball

Lamine Yamal‘s trajectory has often been compared to Lionel Messi‘s and now they’re set to cross paths in the World Cup final.

Ever since Messi’s rise to prominence at Barcelona, there have been countless prospects coming through the ranks tipped to follow in his footsteps, only to veer off course.

But Yamal, Barca’s current number 10, looks the likeliest of them all to make his talent last.

Messi will be Argentina’s main source of inspiration in the World Cup final, while Yamal will be hoping to help Spain follow up their Euro 2024 success.

It’s fair to say Messi has been overwhelmingly the better player at this World Cup, scoring eight goals in comparison to Yamal’s one.

But Messi is an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, to be fair. Yamal’s career at the top level is largely ahead of him in contrast.

So how have Yamal’s efforts in his first World Cup compared to Messi’s when he first took to the same stage 20 years ago?

Messi made his World Cup bow in the 2006 tournament, when he was approaching his 19th birthday. Yamal also recently turned 19.

As the anticipation builds for this year’s final, here’s how each player performed at their first World Cup.

Lamine Yamal at the 2026 World Cup

Lionel Messi at the 2006 World Cup