Photographer on Iconic Image

Here, Messi is taking on Spain’s young star, Lamine Yamal!

(Bild: AP/Joan Monfort)

“And now it all culminates in the showdown between Messi and Yamal. That’s better than any script!” Joan Monfort, the photographer behind the world-famous bathtub photo featuring a young Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal as a baby, is stunned by the circumstances under which today’s soccer stars are reuniting...

He told the AP news agency, for which he works as a freelance photographer, that he’s been inundated with requests for the photos from professional media outlets.

At the same time, his images have been shared countless times on social media and the internet without any credit or compensation. The photo of Argentina’s Messi and Spain’s Lamine Yamal is everywhere ahead of the World Cup final: Lamine Yamal is sitting in a small plastic tub and is being bathed by Messi, who was 20 years old at the time. During the now-legendary photo shoot in 2007, the Spaniard was only a few months old, while Messi was already a professional with FC Barcelona and on the Argentine national team.

Yamal’s mother won a raffle for the photo shoot
The photos were taken for a charity calendar, and the children’s aid organization UNICEF was also involved. The UN agency recently recalled the encounter with a social media post and shared the photo as well. As luck would have it, Lamine Yamal’s mother, who appears in the calendar photo, had won a raffle among families who wanted to participate in the campaign.

Monfort had no memory of the photos until Lamine Yamal’s father posted one of them on social media during the 2024 European Championship. The photo went viral back then. Now that the World Cup final is approaching, interest in his photos has skyrocketed, the Spaniard said: “It’s created a real buzz worldwide, and the fact that the final is taking place in the U.S. has given the whole thing an extra boost.”

“Maybe both can win”
Monfort doesn’t know which of the two superstars to root for in the World Cup final. “I’m torn. I don’t know whether I want Messi or Yamal to win,” explained the FC Barcelona fan. “I have boundless love for the greatest player of all time (Messi),” but “Yamal has set new standards here” and, thanks to his parents from Morocco and Equatorial Guinea, represents a new, diverse Spain. “Maybe both of them can win. After everything we’ve seen, I wouldn’t rule that out.”