Long before becoming one of the greatest talents in world football, Lamine Yamal had already crossed paths with Lionel MessiIn 2007, when he was still a baby, the Spanish international participated with his family in a charity campaign organized around the players of FC Barcelona. By chance, he was paired with an exceptional partner: Lionel Messi, still at the beginning of his illustrious career.
In the photos, the young Argentinian appears with long hair, sitting next to a small plastic bathtub containing Lamine Yamal. Other images show Messi washing or holding the infant, watched by his mother. These photographs have become striking in retrospect, as the two protagonists are now considered two major figures in Barcelona football history.
A baby of just a few months old facing a still very young Messi
The session takes place in 2007. Lamine Yamal, born on July 13th of that year, was only a few months old. Lionel Messi, aged 20, was already beginning to make his mark at FC Barcelona, but was not yet the multiple Ballon d'Or winner who would dominate world football for more than 15 years.
The Barcelona players are participating in a charity calendar created with children and their families. The project, which benefits UNICEF, pairs each footballer with a family selected for the photo shoot.
The meeting between Messi and the Yamal family was therefore not the result of a premeditated selection of a future prodigy. At that time, no one could have imagined that the baby in the bathtub would one day wear the FC Barcelona jersey and become one of the most precocious players in history.
Lionel Messi didn't know how to hold the baby
Photographer Joan Monfort, who was in charge of supervising the session, remembers Lionel Messi being particularly reserved around the infant. The Argentinian player, more accustomed to the pitch than to photoshoots with babies, initially didn't know how to proceed."It was difficult. Messi was only in his twenties and very shy. At first, he didn't know how to hold the baby.", the photographer recounts.
The images, however, show a smiling and attentive Messi. In one, he helps bathe young Lamine Yamal in the small blue bathtub. In another, he leans over him while the child's mother joins in. These photographs, initially intended for a charity campaign, remained forgotten for a long time before resurfacing widely on social media.
Two destinies linked to FC Barcelona
During this photo shoot, Lionel Messi was already playing with Barça's first team. The Argentinian had made his professional debut three years earlier and was beginning to play a central role in the Catalan club's project. Lamine Yamal then grew up near Barcelona before joining the club's youth academy. He quickly rose through the youth ranks and played his first match with the first team in April 2023, at just 15 years old. Like Messi before him, the Spanish winger made his mark thanks to his technical skill, his ability to beat his opponents, and his clinical finishing. Comparisons quickly multiplied, even though the two players had different profiles and career paths. The photograph taken in 2007 adds a spectacular dimension to this sporting connection. Messi appears as a young star in the making, while Lamine Yamal is still just a completely unknown infant.
Lamine Yamal breaks precocity records
Since his debut with FC Barcelona, Lamine Yamal has been racking up records. He became the youngest player to wear the Spanish jersey, then the youngest goalscorer in the history of the national team. At Euro 2024, he also became the youngest player to participate in the competition. On July 9, 2024, against France in the semi-final, he scored at 16 years and 362 days old, becoming the youngest goalscorer in the history of a European Championship. This achievement lends a special significance to the images from 2007. The baby photographed with Messi has become, 17 years later, one of the leading figures of Spanish football and FC Barcelona.
A photo that has become historic
The campaign for UNICEF was simply meant to bring together Barça players and several families for a charity calendar. Instead, it produced one of the most striking images in recent football history. On one side, Lionel Messi, who would go on to win every major title with FC Barcelona and Argentina. On the other, Lamine Yamal, still a baby, destined to become the sporting heir of a new Catalan generation. No staging could have foreseen the future significance of this encounter. Seventeen years later, the photographs symbolically unite two eras of FC Barcelona: that of Lionel Messi, which has become legendary, and that of Lamine Yamal, which is just beginning.
