In 2022, social networks were stirred up when Louis Vuitton released a photo of two world football superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo facing each other on a chessboard, right before the opening of the World Cup in Qatar.
At that time, international media and fans of the king sport all described this as a "photo of the century", because the fact that two of the greatest football players of all time participated in an advertising campaign of a brand, and publicly posted a photo taken together on their personal account was unimaginable.
Many people also call this a fateful photo or an artistic arrangement of fate, because it converges many special elements both in terms of historical context and hidden layers of meaning behind it.
The noteworthy detail lies in the chess move on the Louis Vuitton suitcase. This chess move is not randomly arranged, but it recreates the famous draw in 2017 between two world chess grandmasters Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura.
This draw is considered a hint of the brand's position of Messi and Ronaldo in the football world. Thereby reflecting the relationship between the two superstars, they are considered formidable rivals, but also constantly push each other to overcome the limits.
However, in the end, Messi and the Argentine team reversed the situation and won the World Cup that year.
This year, before the 2026 World Cup, the sports world is stirred up again when the global toy brand LEGO announced images and advertising videos featuring 4 football stars Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe.
In the video, 4 players sit around a rotating table, competing to complete the LEGO World Cup trophy. But in the end, when each person was trying to place a model of their character symbol on top of the trophy, a boy suddenly appeared, took a small model from inside the trophy and placed it on top, "snatching" from the players.
The video opens up many discussions and predictions about the ability of the 4 superstars to go far before the 2026 World Cup kicks off.
Up to now, Messi is the only one left in the race, when Argentina just won 2-1 against England to enter the final.
Vinicius Junior (Brazilian national team), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal national team) and Kylian Mbappe (French national team) had to leave in turn.
And the team that defeated France in the semi-finals was Spain - the team that owns 19-year-old football prodigy Lamine Yamal.
Messi and Yamal are the two most anticipated names in the biggest match of world football. But long before that, the two were connected by an unbelievable photo that many people still suspected was a "fake photo".
However, unlike the 2 "photo collages" taken for Louis Vuitton and LEGO's promotional campaigns, this time, the image of Messi at 20 years old bathing Yamal, who is only 5 months old, is a completely real, real interaction moment.
The photo was taken in December 2007, within the framework of a photoshoot for a charity calendar organized by Barcelona and UNICEF. Yamal's family is one of the lucky ones selected through a draw to appear in this campaign.
At that time, no one could imagine that the baby in Messi's arms would later become one of the brightest stars of world football, or that photo would become a fateful and memorable moment in the history of the king sport.
After nearly 20 years, Messi and Yamal will face each other in the 2026 World Cup final between Argentina and Spain.
Will this be a generational transition, or is it the moment "GOAT" Lionel Messi continues to deepen his legacy with his second consecutive World Cup title.
