Argentine football legend Lionel Messi has said that it is ‘crazy’ how he was the one to bathe a baby Lamine Yamal 19 years ago at a UNICEF photoshoot and now, the duo are all set to face off in the 2026
FIFA World Cup final.
Once Argentina’s place in the final was confirmed, a brilliant photograph from 2007 showing a young Messi with an infant Yamal resurfaced on social media, reigniting fascination with their extraordinary encounter almost two decades ago.
The picture shows a young Messi, then a Barcelona star, taking part in a charity photoshoot for local newspaper Diario Sport and UNICEF in 2007. During the shoot, Messi is seen sitting on the floor as he bathes the future Spain sensation, Yamal, in a blue plastic tub, before later cradling the infant in a towel.
“That picture, it was crazy. Him as a baby and now we are facing each other… so once again, what a crazy picture,” Messi said when asked by NFL icon Tom Brady about the pictures.
“I just wish him the best of luck and he is part of the Barcelona squad as well. We will try to give them [Spain] the best match possible, but Lamine isn’t the only great player that Spain has. So again we will give it our all,” Messi added.
“He is only 19 years old and he has all of his future ahead. He has the opportunity to make history, but we are also going to give it our best,” Messi said.
By chance, Yamal’s mother, who appears in the now-famous calendar photograph, won a raffle for families from Mataró, near Barcelona, to take part in the charity photoshoot.
Fate then paired her infant son, who would go on to become a Barcelona star some 15 years later, with Messi, destined to be regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time.
