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Messi, Yamal Baby Photo Resurfaces Before World Cup Final
By Aurax Desk | July 17, 2026 | 2 min read
A 19-year-old charity photograph of Lionel Messi holding baby Lamine Yamal has resurfaced ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Spain. The image has become a symbol of football's generational transition as one of the sport's greatest players prepares to face one of its brightest young stars.
Argentina's Lionel Messi (left) and Spain's Lamine Yamal (right), who are set to face off in the FIFA World Cup final.
An iconic photograph taken nearly two decades ago showing Lionel Messi cradling and bathing a six-month-old Lamine Yamal has resurfaced ahead of Sunday's FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Spain. The image, captured in 2007 by photographer Joan Monfort, was part of a charity calendar produced by the FC Barcelona Foundation in partnership with UNICEF to raise money for children's projects. At the time, Messi was a 20-year-old emerging Barcelona star, while Yamal had been selected with his family through a community raffle to participate in the fundraising event.
The photographs first gained widespread international attention in 2024 after Yamal's father shared them on social media, but interest has surged again as the two players prepare to meet for the first time on football's biggest stage. Messi, widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sport's history, will lead defending champion Argentina, while the 19-year-old Yamal has become one of Spain's standout performers after rising through Barcelona's La Masia academy. Their meeting has been widely described as a symbolic passing of the torch between generations, although both players have followed very different paths since the charity event.
The charity calendar featured several Barcelona players posing with children to support UNICEF initiatives promoting children's rights, with proceeds helping fund humanitarian programs. While neither Messi nor Yamal could have anticipated the significance the photographs would later hold, the images have become one of the defining stories surrounding the World Cup final. The remarkable connection has captured global attention by linking one of football's most celebrated careers with the emergence of one of the game's newest stars, adding an unexpected historical dimension to the championship match.
Sources: Information compiled from Reuters, BBC Sport, ABC News, UNICEF USA, OneFootball, the Associated Press and other international media reports.
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