UNICEF confirmed on Friday, July 17, that the famous images of Lionel Messi alongside an infant Lamine Yamal are authentic and were not generated by artificial intelligence, contrary to speculation on social media.

The photographs were taken in the autumn of 2007 at the Camp Nou stadium, when Messi was 20 years old and Yamal was approximately six months old. In one of the most well-known images, the then-young Barcelona star is seen helping to bathe Yamal in a small tub, with Yamal’s mother, Sheila Ebana, also appearing in some of the shots.

Spanish photographer Joan Monfort captured the images for a 2008 charity calendar. The project was a collaboration between the FC Barcelona Foundation and the sports newspaper Sport, with proceeds benefiting UNICEF programs and child protection initiatives.

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The Yamal family, residents of the Rocafonda neighborhood in Mataró, were selected via a UNICEF lottery to participate in the project, making Lamine’s appearance alongside Messi entirely coincidental. At the time, none of the project organizers could have imagined that the infant in the photograph would evolve into one of the world’s premier football stars years later.

The photograph resurfaced after Mounir Nasraoui, Lamine Yamal’s father, shared it on Instagram during Euro 2024 with the caption "The beginning of two legends." This historic image has once again gone viral on social media ahead of the 2026 World Cup final between Argentina and Spain. The match is set to feature 39-year-old Messi and 19-year-old Yamal as opponents, nearly two decades after the original photo was captured.

Both Messi and Yamal are graduates of Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy and currently serve as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors. Yamal was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for the international body in June 2026, with a focus on advocating for children’s right to play and supporting those affected by humanitarian crises.