A 2007 charity photoshoot captured Lionel Messi holding an infant Lamine Yamal in his arms — nearly two decades before the two soccer legends would meet on the biggest stage in their sport.
The image resurfaced ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final, where Messi’s Argentina will face Yamal’s Spain in what fans are calling a storybook moment 19 years in the making.
When Yamal first burst onto the international scene in 2024 during the UEFA European Championship, his father Mounir Nasraoui posted the baby photo to Instagram with a prophetic caption.
“The beginning of two legends.”
The photoshoot was part of a charity raffle organized by Spanish newspaper Diario Sport and UNICEF in December 2007. Winners earned a slot with a professional FC Barcelona player for a promotional calendar photo.
Yamal’s family won the raffle and chose to pair their infant son with a 20-year-old Messi — before the fame, before the trophies, before anyone knew either would become legends.
🚨🇪🇸🇦🇷 Lionel Messi with Lamine Yamal as a baby back in December 2007, from Spanish newspaper @sport.
It was a photoshoot organised for a charity calendar. pic.twitter.com/C7jCKbYnp7
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) July 5, 2024
The shoot took place at Camp Nou, FC Barcelona’s legendary stadium. The same stadium where Messi blossomed into one of the greatest players of all time. The same stadium that is now home to Yamal, who joined the Barcelona program at age seven.
Freelance photographer Joan Monfort captured the now-viral images. When the photos exploded online in 2024, he told The Athletic he was just as stunned as everyone else.
“It’s something incredible,” Monfort said. “Back then, nobody could imagine that this baby would be who he is now – and you could have not known that Messi would become who he became, either. We are talking about 2007. Messi was only beginning at Barcelona then. Destiny plays an important role in these things.”
Spain punched their ticket to the final by dominating France 2-0 in the first semifinal, keeping Yamal undefeated against the French through three career matches.
Argentina had to grind. Messi and his squad scored two goals in seven minutes to storm back and beat England 2-1 late in their semifinal.
The two legends will now face each other on soccer’s grandest stage — the infant from the charity calendar photo versus the young star who held him.
