How Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal's viral photo is coming full circle at the World Cup
One of soccer's most talked-about photographs has taken on new meaning.
Ahead of Sunday's highly anticipated FIFA World Cup Final between Argentina and Spain, a resurfaced photograph of Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal has become a defining visual of a remarkable full-circle moment.
The image has gone viral after Argentina's win against England on Wednesday, and features the Argentine legend with Spain's breakout football star as an infant. In the photo, Messi appears to be giving baby Yamal a bath.
Lamal's father Mounir Nasraoui previously shared a behind-the-scenes snapshot from what appears to be the now-famous photo shoot on Instagram back in 2024.
Photographed by Joan Monfort in 2007, the image was part of a charity calendar to benefit UNICEF and was a collaboration with the FC Barcelona Foundation. The calendar was launched in 2008, and 50% of sales went to projects promoting children's rights.
Other soccer players who took part in the calendar included Xavi Hernández, Ronaldinho Gaucho, Carles Puyol and Samuel Eto'o.
Monfort told ESPN in 2024 that each month of the calendar featured a footballer with a child from Catalonia, Spain. Parents could have their children participate by entering a draw.
"The objective was to give visibility to a series of social problems faced by kids and their families," Monfort told ESPN. "It was coming up to Christmas, and we wanted to transmit humanity, both through the kids and the players. We tried to find a way of them interacting, laughing, as relaxed as possible."
The photographer said that Messi and Yamal were photographed for the month of January. Monfort said it was his idea to photograph Messi bathing baby Yamal, saying he thought it would be a good way for them to interact. He added that Yamal's mother helped with the process to get the shots.
The photograph was long forgotten until Nasraoui shared it on Instagram in July 2024.
"The beginning of two legends ❤️," he captioned the post at the time.
Yamal's path to fame has been remarkably similar to Messi's in the years since the photograph was taken: He came up through FC Barcelona's famed youth academy, La Masia, before breaking into the club's first team as a teenager. Both are also left-footed forwards who began their careers at an unusually young age.
In December 2024, when Messi was asked by a reporter about which football player reminded him of himself, Messi replied, "If I have to choose someone, because of the age and because of the future that he has, I've heard that they have chosen Lamine Yamal -- and without doubt, [it's him] for me too."
"He's the present and without a doubt has a huge future," he added at the time.
Nearly two decades after their charity photoshoot, Messi and Yamal will meet on soccer's biggest stage as Spain faces Argentina in Sunday's FIFA World Cup Final.
While they have succeeded in each of their rounds throughout the tournament, there is no public record of Messi and Yamal meeting since the photoshoot, making Sunday's final a potential reunion decades in the making.
Ahead of the match, Yamal told a reporter, "I'd love to face Messi in a World Cup final."
Whether or not the match marks Messi's final World Cup appearance remains to be seen. For many fans, it represents more than just a battle for soccer's biggest prize, bringing together two players linked by one unforgettable photograph -- one who has defined his generation and another who could define the next.
The FIFA World Cup Final will take place Sunday, July 19, at 3 p.m. ET at New York-New Jersey Stadium.
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