Topps turns Messi and baby Yamal photo into one-of-one card
Topps says the rare Stadium Club UCC card featuring Lionel Messi holding infant Lamine Yamal will arrive later this year.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
2 min read
Topps is turning Lionel Messi’s old photo with baby Lamine Yamal into a one-of-one trading card, giving collectors a tiny cardboard version of a soccer coincidence that got new life during the World Cup.
The company announced Monday on X that the card will be included in Topps Stadium Club UCC, a release scheduled for later this year. Topps said the card will be numbered 1-of-1, meaning only a single copy is being made for the product.
The image shows Messi holding Yamal when the Spain forward was an infant. Yamal is now 19 and one of Barcelona’s rising stars, while Messi is the former Barcelona great whose career at the club included numerous trophies, according to ESPN News Services.
The photo’s timing has become the whole charm. ESPN News Services reported that Messi was playing for Barcelona when he took part in a UNICEF fundraising effort and ended up holding Yamal, who years later would become one of the most closely watched young players in the game.
Topps leaned straight into that backstory in its X post, saying the Messi and Yamal photoshoot was headed for a 1-of-1 trading card. The company said it will arrive in the Stadium Club UCC line later this year.
The card announcement came after Messi and Yamal met in Sunday’s World Cup final. Spain beat Argentina 1-0, putting Yamal on the winning side against the Argentine captain, ESPN News Services reported.
Messi had been asked about the old picture before the final. “That photo is incredible,” Messi said Friday, according to ESPN News Services. “I took a picture with him when he was a baby. The fact that we're both playing in the World Cup now is crazy.”
The final also carried a generational edge in ESPN’s account. Messi, 39, was likely playing in his last World Cup, while Yamal was appearing in his first tournament for Spain.
Both players had heavy summers. ESPN News Services reported that Messi and Yamal each played eight games at the World Cup.
Their next steps are already lined up. Yamal is set to return to training before the 2026-27 LaLiga season with Barcelona. Messi is due back with Inter Miami CF in Major League Soccer after the league paused play for the FIFA tournament, according to ESPN News Services.
For collectors, the chase is now simple: one card, one photo, two players whose paths crossed first in a UNICEF shoot and again on soccer’s biggest stage.
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.