Lamine Yamal has thanked Lionel Messi for reaching out after what he called a “difficult night”. The Barcelona teenager also named Messi the best player at the 2026 World Cup.
Yamal shared his thoughts in two Facebook posts on Tuesday. In the first, he praised Messi’s performance at the tournament. “No player was better than Messi,” he wrote.
In the second, he thanked the Argentine for calling him. He said Messi checked on him and offered encouragement. Those words, Yamal added, “meant a lot” to him.
Ballon d’Or context
The posts came a day after the Ballon d’Or ceremony in London. Yamal finished third. Harry Kane of Bayern Munich won the award, while Kylian Mbappe took second place.
Yamal did not say the result was why Messi called. He only referred to a difficult night. Even so, the timing points to the ceremony.
Messi also featured in the rankings. He placed fifth. Yamal praised him in that moment too.
Since Monday night, Yamal has posted several tributes to the Argentine. Messi recently retired from international football. Argentina ended the World Cup as runners-up to Spain.
