Lamine Yamal, who was photographed as an infant being bathed by Lionel Messi during a UNICEF charity photo session, will face Messi for the first time in the FIFA World Cup Final, El.kz reports.
As a child, Lamine Yamal became the subject of a photograph whose significance only became apparent years later. In 2007, the family of the future footballer won a UNICEF charity lottery, giving the infant the opportunity to participate in a photo session with Lionel Messi.
The photo session took place at Camp Nou as part of the annual charitable initiative organized by the FC Barcelona Foundation in partnership with the Sport newspaper.
The Yamal family secured their place through the charity draw, while the identity of the footballer they would be photographed with was determined by a random selection. As a result, the infant found himself alongside the young Messi.
The photographs were taken by Spanish photographer Joan Monfort. During the session, Messi bathed the young Yamal in a small plastic bathtub, while the child’s mother, Sheila Ebana, stood nearby.
Monfort later recalled that the shoot had not been easy. According to him, Messi was very shy at the time, had never experienced a similar situation before, and initially did not know how to hold the infant properly. As everyone gradually relaxed, the photographer captured a series of images that would become internationally recognized years later.
Following the publication of the charity calendar, the photographs remained in the family’s private archive for many years. It was not until the summer of 2024 that Lamine Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, shared the images on social media, after which they were rapidly picked up by international media outlets.
Yamal later explained that the family had deliberately refrained from publishing the photographs earlier. According to the footballer, his parents did not want to encourage constant comparisons with Messi, whom he considers the greatest player in the history of football.
First Official Meeting
Argentina and Spain will meet in the FIFA World Cup Final on 19 July. For Messi, the match presents an opportunity to win a second FIFA World Cup title, while for Yamal it is a chance to claim football’s most prestigious international trophy at the age of 19.
