MIAMI: Lionel Messi is set for an extraordinary FIFA World Cup final after nearly two-decade-old photos resurfaced showing him holding and bathing an infant Lamine Yamal, who is now expected to line up against the Argentine captain on football’s biggest stage.
The photographs were taken in 2007 during a charity calendar shoot organized by UNICEF, FC Barcelona, and a local Barcelona newspaper.
Em 2007, um fotógrafo espanhol tirou uma
foto que ninguém deu importância.Messi tinha 19 anos, começando no Barcelona.
Yamal tinha 5 meses de vida, escolhido no
sorteio de um calendário beneficente.Ninguém sabia que aquele bebê seria o outro
protagonista da final da Copa… pic.twitter.com/9Y70od9mOm— Britinho edições (@andersbrito) July 16, 2026
Then just six months old, Yamal was selected by lottery to take part in the photo session, where a 20-year-old Messi posed with the baby in a plastic bathtub.
Photographer Joan Monfort recalled that Messi, still early in his professional career, was shy and initially unsure how to hold the infant.
After the shoot, a colleague jokingly remarked that Messi had “blessed” the child a comment that has gained new significance as Yamal has emerged as one of world football’s brightest young stars.
Now, 19 years later, the viral images have captured fans’ imagination ahead of Sunday’s FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Spain, where Messi and Yamal are expected to face each other for the first time on the sport’s grandest stage.
Some stories come full circle. pic.twitter.com/HcNMnxgGZF
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 15, 2026
Football supporters have described the remarkable story as a symbolic meeting of two generations, with one of the game’s greatest-ever players taking on one of its most promising new talents.
More read, Argentina storms back to beat England, reaches World Cup final
Earlier, Argentina pulled off a dramatic late comeback to beat England 2-1 in Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal, booking a spot in the final with two goals scored in the last seven minutes of the match.
