Sports
Sports journalist Godfred Akoto has described Lionel Messi’s final World Cup appearance against Spain’s Lamine Yamal as one of football’s most poetic moments, saying it felt like watching one generation hand the game to the next.
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Sports journalist Godfred Akoto has described Lionel Messi’s final World Cup appearance against Spain’s Lamine Yamal as one of football’s most poetic moments, saying it felt like watching one generation hand the game to the next.
Speaking on Kafui Dey’s podcast, Akoto said the World Cup final delivered a story that even Hollywood would have struggled to write.
“It was basically a passing of the torch moment,” he said.
For Akoto, the symbolism stretched far beyond the result.
He remembered first seeing Messi in person at the 2010 World Cup alongside Diego Maradona and immediately believing he was destined for greatness.
“I remember 2010… I said, ‘This kid will be something else.’ Sixteen years later, he definitely has been something else.”
The final, he explained, represented two different football philosophies.
Argentina built its team around Messi, while Spain deliberately eased the burden on teenage sensation Lamine Yamal after his return from injury.
“They just needed him to do what he’s supposed to do within the structure that Luis de la Fuente had set up.”
What stayed with Akoto most, however, happened after the match.
He watched as Messi sat alone on the turf before Yamal walked over to embrace him.
“I’m sure they had a short interaction,” he said. “It was pretty clear he’s somebody Messi is very proud of.”
Another moment that fascinated him was discovering that the famous photograph of Messi bathing baby Lamine Yamal was genuine rather than artificial intelligence.
Like many football fans, Akoto initially dismissed it as another internet fabrication.
“I thought, ‘With these AI guys, give it a rest.’ Then I found out it was actually real.”
The photograph, taken years earlier after Yamal’s family won a Barcelona charity raffle, suddenly became one of football’s most remarkable coincidences.
“These things don’t write themselves, do they?” he remarked.
Beyond individual moments, Akoto marvelled at Spain’s football.
He described their relentless possession game as “death by a thousand passes,” explaining that Spain’s greatest strength was not simply keeping the ball but winning it back almost immediately after losing possession.
“You might win the ball and they’ll get it back in eight or ten seconds… it demoralises opponents”, he said.
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“You get to see a different side of these boys,” he said of the players. “We tend to see tournaments as just what happens on the pitch, but that chance to connect is really important.”
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Akoto said the competition was never just about who shouted the loudest on air. Instead, it was about credibility, relationships with sources and the ability to consistently deliver accurate information before anyone else.
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“The quality of the turfs is my main issue,” he said. “The quality of the turfs that are being laid are the worst of the worst standard.”
