A photograph from 2007 showing Lionel Messi bathing and holding a baby has been confirmed to show current Spain and Barcelona star Lamine Yamal as an infant, a coincidence that has resurfaced ahead of major international tournaments.
The images were taken in the autumn of 2007 at Camp Nou in Barcelona for a 2008 charity calendar organized by Catalan sports newspaper Diario Sport and UNICEF. At the time, UNICEF's name was on the front of Barcelona's shirts and proceeds from the calendar supported its programs. Barcelona supplied first-team players while UNICEF selected local children to be paired with them.
According to organizers, families in Catalonia entered a raffle and Yamal's family from Mataró won a slot. The family was randomly paired with Messi, then 20 years old and beginning to establish himself at Barcelona. Freelance photographer Joan Monfort, working for The Associated Press, led the shoot in the visitors' locker room at Camp Nou. One image shows Messi and Yamal's mother, Sheila Ebana, bathing the child in a plastic tub, another shows Messi cradling the five-month-old wrapped in a towel.
The photos went unnoticed for nearly 17 years until Yamal's father posted one during Euro 2024. Monfort later said he knew Messi would become a great player but had no idea the baby would become one of football's most prominent young talents.