Fans Stunned After Photos Of Messi Holding Spanish Soccer Star As A Baby Resurface Ahead Of World Cup Final

After Argentina's stunning World Cup Victory over England, the country will now face Spain in the final.

And it turns out the two team's star players have a lot of history between them.

Soccer icon Lionel Messi will lead Argentina against Spain's 19-year-old phenom Lamine Yamal, who, it turns out, Messi has known since he was a tiny baby.

A photo recently resurfaced of Messi bathing a pint-size Yamal in 2005, and it's got people feeling like the World Cup final match-up on July 19 was predestined.

The photo resurfaced after Yamal's father posted a carousel of pictures of his son on Instagram recently.

In them was the photo of Yamal and Messi's fateful encounter all those years ago, along with the caption:

"The beginning of two legends ❤️"

Even weirder, Messi was playing for Yamal's current home team, FC Barcelona, at the time.

The adorable meet-up was part of a fundraising event for UNICEF in which Yamal's mother Sheila and her baby boy got to meet budding superstar Messi, who has worked with the charity extensively over his career—as does Yamal now that he's a star too.

The photo and the connections between the two players, not to mention the timing, was so uncanny that many people on the internet couldn't believe it was real.

But UNICEF was quick to confirm that it was, while honoring both players' roles in helping the organization. They wrote:

"Yes, those photos you’ve seen are real."

"More than 18 years ago, a baby named Lamine Yamal and his mom Sheila met Lionel Messi at a UNICEF fundraising photoshoot."

"Today, their achievements on the pitch inspire millions."

"Off the pitch, both Messi and Lamine Yamal use their voices and platforms as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors to support and advocate for children around the world."

The picture's photographer, Joan Monfort, explained to the AP that the photo shoot was part of a raffle that Yamal's mother won.

"UNICEF did a raffle in the neighborhood of Roca Fonda in Mataró, where Lamine's family lived."

"They signed up for the raffle to have their picture taken at the Camp Nou [Barcelona's stadium] with a Barça player. And they won the raffle."

And the rest, as they say, is history! Although it didn't quite go as smoothly as the adorable photos suggest: Monfort said that Messi, who was just 20 at the time, was not only very "shy" at the time but also didn't know how to properly hold a baby!

She explained:

"It was very difficult. He entered the [stadium's] changing room to find a plastic bathtub filled with water and a baby inside."

Seems like he handled it alright in the end! And on social media, people were touched and astonished by the full circle moment between Messi and Yamal.

After Argentina defeated England, Messi and Yamal will now play each other for the first time in their careers, and at the World Cup final, no less, at New York-New Jersey Stadium on July 19. Presumably there will be no bathtub on sight this time!