On Sunday, the world will stop for the biggest match in football: the World Cup final. Spain, with eight Barça players in the squad, and Argentina, led by Leo Messi, will meet in New York at 9pm CEST in a game with a strong FC Barcelona presence.

Eyes on 19 

To begin with, all eyes will be on Lamine Yamal. At just 19 years of age (having only recently celebrated his birthday) the young Barça player is making his first appearance at the tournament. And there is a striking coincidence involving the number 19.

As well as being his age, he wears the number 19 shirt for Spain. The iconic photograph of Leo Messi bathing him was also taken 19 years ago, and Messi was wearing the number 19 shirt for FC Barcelona at the time. In short, the number 19 seems to be following this final, which will fittingly be played on July 19.

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Messi fans

Of the eight Barça players in the Spain squad, only one has played alongside Leo Messi. That player is Pedri, who was the Argentinian's teammate in the 2020/21 season, Messi's last at Barça. They played 47 matches together in total, with 29 Barça wins, seven draws and 11 defeats. Ferran Torres, meanwhile, is the only one to have faced Messi. He has done so five times: four with Valencia and once with Manchester City.

Although most of them have neither played alongside nor faced the GOAT, there can be no doubt that they belong to a generation that grew up idolising the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner. The Argentinian defined an era at Barça. In fact, several of them have photographs with him, including Dani Olmo and Gavi. Now, for the first time, they will share a football pitch with him, on one of the biggest stages imaginable.

Nine from La Masia 

Between the two national teams, nine players came through La Masia: Leo Messi, Lamine Yamal, Gavi, Cubarsí, Olmo, Eric, Grimaldo, Cucurella and Víctor Muñoz. It is another statistic that further underlines Barça's prominent role in the World Cup final. Everything is ready for a huge occasion that, whatever happens, will have a distinctly Barça flavour.

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