20-year-old soccer star Lionel Messi helps bathe Lamine Yamal, who was merely six months old at the time, during a photo session in Sept. 2007 in the dressing room of the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain.
Joan Monfort/Associated Press
20-year-old soccer star Lionel Messi helps to bathe Lamine Yamal, who was merely six months old at the time with Yamal’s mother Sheila Ebana during a photo session in Sept. 2007 in the dressing room of the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain.
Joan Monfort/Associated Press
Fans of Spain hold up a banner that reads “Blessed by GOAT” and features a picture of young Lamine Yamal of Spain (not pictured) being held by Lionel Messi of Argentina, prior to the UEFA EURO 2024 final match between Spain and England at the Olympiastadion on July 14, 2024, in Berlin, Germany.
Alex Grimm/Getty Images
A Spain supporter holds a placard with a picture showing Argentina’s Lionel Messi posing with young Spain forward Lamine Yamal, who was visiting a Barcelona locker room as part of a charity calendar photo shoot in 2007 ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024 final football match between Spain and England at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on July 14, 2024.
INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images
Spain’s Lamine Yamal controls the ball during the international friendly soccer match between Spain and Egypt in Barcelona, Spain, March 31, 2026.
Joan Monfort/Associated Press
As the 2026 FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Spain approaches on Sunday afternoon, you either already have or you are soon to see a photo that looks too incredibly weird to be real.
The image, taken in 2007, shows Argentina legend Lionel Messi, then 20 years old, giving a bath to a baby Lamine Yamal, Spain’s current young phenom.
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But … yes, it’s real.
Nearly two decades before the two soccer stars were set to face each other on the sport’s biggest stage, they shared what’s become one of the most remarkable moments in soccer history.
So, how did the greatest player of one generation end up washing the player many believe could define the next? Here’s the story behind one of soccer’s incredible coincidences.
20-year-old soccer star Lionel Messi cradles Lamine Yamal, who was merely six months old at the time during a photo session in Sept. 2007 in the dressing room of the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain.
Joan Monfort/Associated Press
Who are Messi and Yamal?
Lionel Messi is Argentina’s top player and Lamine Yamal is Spain’s best. The two lead their teams against one another Sunday in the World Cup Final.
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What to know about Lionel Messi
Messi, 39, is widely considered the greatest player in the history of the sport, having won the Ballon d’Or — awarded to the top player in European club soccer — a record eight times. He’s scored more than 900 goals for club and country, led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup and is the all-time leader in both goals (21) and assists (12) at the World Cup.
What to know about Lamine Yamal
Yamal, who celebrated his 19th birthday earlier this week, is the fastest-rising star in world soccer. The gifted winger became a full-time fixture for FC Barcelona as a 16-year-old in 2023, and the next summer was named the Young Player of the Tournament while helping to lead Spain to the 2024 European Championship.
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A fan of Spain holding a picture of Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal during the UEFA EURO 2024 final match between Spain and England at Olympiastadion on July 14, 2024, in Berlin, Germany.
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What is FC Barcelona?
FC Barcelona, often called Barca, is a professional soccer club based in Barcelona, Spain. It’s one of the most successful clubs in the world, with 27 La Liga titles, 32 Copa del Rey trophies and five UEFA Champions League titles. Its youth academy, La Masia, has produced some of the greatest players in soccer history, including Messi and Yamal.
OK, why was Lionel Messi bathing baby Lamine Yamal?
This wasn’t a family photo, nor was it a calculated publicity stunt involving the two players.
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The image was taken in autumn 2007 as part of Barcelona’s annual charity calendar through a collaboration between the local newspaper Diario Sport and UNICEF.
UNICEF had held raffles in neighborhoods around Barcelona and Yamal’s family, who lived in the nearby town of Mataro, won one of them. By chance, the baby was paired with Lionel Messi for the prize.
The shoot took place in the visitors’ locker room at Barcelona’s stadium, Camp Nou, where a production crew had set up a small plastic bathtub.
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Lionel Messi of Argentina during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Semi Final football match between England and Argentina at Atlanta Stadium on July 15, 2026, in Atlanta, Georgia.
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How old are Messi and Yamal in the photo?
Lionel Messi was 20 years old: He had secured his place in Barcelona’s first team and was a rising star, but had not yet won his first Ballon d’Or or become the global icon he is today.
Lamine Yamal was just 5 or 6 months old: He was months away from walking and years away from starting to conquer soccer’s international stage.
The story behind the lens
While the photo looks like a tender moment, the reality behind the scenes was humorously awkward.
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Associated Press photographer Joan Monfort, who captured the image, described the setup as a bit of a challenge.
“Messi is a pretty introverted guy; he’s shy,” Monfort said in a July 2024 Associated Press article. “He was coming out of the locker room and suddenly found himself in another locker room with a plastic tub full of water and a baby in it. It was complicated. He didn’t even know how to hold him at first.”
This week, Monfort The Associated Press that the photo’s coincidence “is beyond all reasonable explanations.”
“I have never been a believer or thought that anything was destined to occur, but I am beginning to have my doubts,” Monfort said.
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Lamine Yamal of Spain looks on during the FIFA World Cup 2026 semifinal match between France and Spain at Dallas Stadium on July 14, 2026, in Arlington, Texas.
David Ramos/Getty Images
Why is the photo circulating now?
The photo first went viral during Euro 2024, when Yamal became the youngest player ever to appear in the tournament and helped lead Spain to the title.
During the tournament, Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, posted the photo on Instagram with the caption: “The beginning of two legends.”
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Now, with Argentina and Spain set to play in the 2026 World Cup final on Sunday, the photo of Messi, now 39, and Yamal, 19, has resurfaced online.
Why is the photo so significant?
The image has become more than a funny coincidence, as it links two of the sport’s greatest players of the 21st century.
Messi went on to become Barcelona’s greatest player, winning multiple Champions League titles, earning countless individual honors, and leading Argentina to World Cup glory in 2022. He is arguably the sport’s greatest player of all time.
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Yamal has followed in many of the same footsteps. Like Messi, he developed at Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy, made his first-team debut wearing number 19 as a teenager and has quickly become one of the sport’s brightest stars.
When and where is the World Cup Final? How can I watch?
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Final will be played Sunday, July 19 at 3 p.m. ET at MetLife Stadium (called New York/New Jersey Stadium for purposes of the World Cup) in East Rutherford, N.J. The game will be broadcast on Fox and Telemundo, and streamed on Fox One and Peacock.
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