Lamine Yamal on Lionel Messi missing out on the Best Player of the Tournament award to Rodri. 🗣️ “Congratulations to Rodri because he’s an unbelievable player. But my heart tells me something different. For me, Lionel Messi deserved that award. What he did at 39 years old wasn’t normal it was something football may never witness again.” “I’ve spent my whole life hearing people say Messi’s time was over. Yet every time the biggest stage called his name, he answered. He carried Argentina again, decided matches again, and made millions of people believe again. How can someone produce a tournament like that and not be named its best player?” “I looked across the pitch in the final and I wasn’t just facing an opponent. I was facing the player who inspired my entire generation to fall in love with football. The same man whose videos I watched every day, whose movements every young player tried to copy, was still producing magic against the best teams in the world.” “For me, this wasn’t just another great World Cup. It was one of the greatest individual tournaments I’ve ever seen. At an age when most legends are remembered for what they used to be, Messi was still showing everyone what greatness looks like in the present.” “People will celebrate the winner of the award, and they have every right to. But years from now, children won’t be searching for the voting results they’ll be searching for Messi’s highlights, his passes, his goals, his dribbles and the moments that made the world stop and applaud.” “I was lucky enough to share a World Cup with my idol. If there’s one thing I’ll always say, it’s this: Lionel Messi didn’t need that trophy to prove he was the best player at this tournament. In my eyes, and in the eyes of millions around the world, he had already won it with his football. Some legacies are simply too big for any vote to define.

Lamine Yamal on Lionel Messi after Spain’s FIFA World Cup triumph over Argentina. 🗣️ Lamine Yamal: “Tonight I lifted the World Cup for Spain, but I also experienced something I’ll tell my children one day. The man who once held me as a baby was standing on the other side of the pitch, fighting for the same dream. Football has a beautiful way of bringing stories full circle.” “When I looked at Messi after the final whistle, I didn’t just see an opponent. I saw the player who made millions of kids, including me, believe football could be art. I saw the man whose videos I watched over and over, trying to copy things that nobody else could do.” “I know this defeat will hurt him. You don’t play with that much passion, carry your country again and again, and lose a World Cup final without feeling pain. Even in defeat, he kept demanding the ball, creating chances and refusing to stop believing. That’s what champions do.” “People will talk about Spain winning this World Cup, and they should. But they’ll also remember that, at an age when most legends have already retired, Messi was still making the world’s best defenders panic every time he touched the ball. That’s extraordinary.” “The photo of Messi bathing me became one of football’s most iconic images. Today we took another picture together, but this time I could thank him face to face. Without players like him, kids like me wouldn’t dare dream this big.” “One day another generation will replace mine too. That’s football. But there will never be another Lionel Messi. Records can be broken and trophies can be won, but inspiring an entire generation to fall in love with the game is something only a few people in history will ever achieve.” “Tonight belongs to Spain. Tomorrow, the debates will continue. But my respect for Lionel Messi will never change. He didn’t need to win this final to prove who he is. For me, he’ll always be one of the greatest players football has ever seen, and sharing the pitch with him was a privilege I’ll carry for the rest of my life.”