Joan Laporta has turned the World Cup final in New York into a Barcelona story. He is in New York ahead of the final at MetLife Stadium, and his message is clear: Lionel Messi belongs to the club's past, while Lamine Yamal points to what comes next. Spain have eight Barcelona players in their World Cup final squad.

Laporta's message on Messi and Yamal

Laporta told goal.com: "Messi has also reached the final, and I'm delighted. He's a source of pride for La Masia. Messi is the past and the present, and Lamine is the present and the future. We're very happy to have what is the genuine Barca style of play."

He is not using the final to talk about trophies or rivalries first, but about Barcelona's identity showing up on the biggest stage available.

"As president, I'm proud to have developed these two players at home, and if we add Joan Garcia, Eric Garcia, Pau Cubarsi, who's having a spectacular World Cup, Dani Olmo, Gavi, Pedri, Ferran Torres... It's spectacular," Laporta said.

Spain's squad has eight Barcelona players, and Messi still carries the sort of tournament output Laporta can point to with a straight face, with a 9.11 World Cup rating and eight goals at the competition.

Yamal's tournament and Barcelona's reach

Yamal's side of the story is more recent, but it is already substantial. He has made seven appearances at the 2026 World Cup, scored once, and carries a 7.02 tournament rating. Only Messi and Kylian Mbappé have taken more shots than him at the tournament, and he has also completed the fourth-most tackles of any Spanish player.

Luis de la Fuente said Yamal took "a hard knock to a painful area" in the semifinal, but added that he trained normally before the final and is "in perfect physical condition." Álex Baena also said Yamal is helping Spain "enormously defensively," which fits the wider picture of a player doing more than waiting for the ball near the box.

The Barcelona angle is not just about one player, either. The Spain squad's eight Barça representatives give Laporta a neat case for La Masia's reach, and this final has become a live example of that, with one legend and one teenager sitting at the centre of it.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 5 outlets. How we work →