How was the iconic photo of a shy Messi with baby Yamal taken

In December 2007 at a Barcelona studio, a small plastic bathtub had been set up and filled with water. A shy 20-year-old footballer was seated in front of it, and a five-month-old baby was placed in his lap. The footballer was none other than Lionel Messi, and the baby was Lamine Yamal.

With Argentina and Spain set to face each other in the World Cup final on Sunday (Bangladesh time Monday), this match is bringing back memories of that iconic photograph. But what actually happened that day? How did these two individuals from different generations end up captured in the same frame?

The photograph was part of a charity calendar produced by the Barcelona Foundation and the Catalan daily newspaper Diario Sport. Every year, the calendar was sold to raise funds for UNICEF and other charities, featuring photos of the club’s players alongside children.

Twelve footballers from the Barcelona squad were paired with twelve children, each representing a month of the year. Many families took part in the initiative. Most of those photos have since been lost to time, remaining only as private family keepsakes.

This particular photograph might have been lost as well, but fate had other plans. The baby chosen that day to partner with Messi was from the town of Mataro—a child who would one day evoke memories of Messi himself through his play on the pitch.

Joan Monfort, the photographer behind the camera, later recalled his memories of that day, “It was a difficult shot. We can say I sweated some blood to take it.”

At the time, Messi was not yet the best player in the world. Although he had won La Liga and the Champions League, he was merely a rising talent in a squad crowded with stars like Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, and Thierry Henry.

Messi was only in his fourth year with Barcelona’s first team; he had shown flashes of his genius, but still had a long way to go.

“Lionel Messi is still shy now. He was much more shy when he was starting out, and he finds himself there with a tiny baby in a plastic bath full of water. At the start, there was not much interaction. It was difficult for all of them. But, bit by bit, it started to happen and in the end, it’s a pretty good photo,” Monfort said.

In Monfort’s words, “Often footballers come in and say ‘Let’s go, let’s do it. I’m in a rush, what do you want to do?’ But you have to take your time. It can be a bit cold, especially in a photo where you need interaction between two people who do not know each other. Then, when one is a baby and the other is 20, it can get difficult.”

The biggest role in this setup was played by Yamal's mother, Sheila Ebana. “Her presence was super-necessary, so the baby did not feel it was too strange. You look for a tender image — something sweet and nice,” said Monfort.

At the time, Yamal’s family lived in Mataro, about 40 kilometres from Barcelona. Making that long journey to Camp Nou with a tiny infant and waiting for the player was a grueling task—one that Yamal’s mother took on. Monfort later gifted Yamal’s family a copy of the photograph, just as he did with every other participating family.

Around seven years later, Yamal began making regular trips from that same town of Mataro to Camp Nou. In 2014, he joined Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy.

What followed was a fairytale, his La Liga debut in April 2023 at just 15 years old, followed by his debut for the Spain national team in September of the same year at age 16. He went on to become one of the key architects of Spain’s Euro 2024-winning squad, and is now the biggest poster for Spanish football.

During Euro 2024, the photo of Messi and Yamal went viral instantly after Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, shared it on social media. Monfort himself was taken by surprise. A former colleague from Diario Sport called him to ask if he was the one who had taken the photo. Monfort still had no idea who the baby was. His colleague laughed and said it was Lamine.

Monfort now works as a freelancer for the Madrid-based newspaper Diario AS, as well as for news agencies like AFP. He could never have imagined that the most famous photo of his career would resurface in this way, becoming more historic with every step of Lamine’s growth.

Even today, Monfort can barely believe that out of the thousands of photos he has taken, this one has become his life’s most famous work. “It’s the most famous photo I’ve taken in my life, by a long way. If Lamine keeps growing like he is growing, the photo will be even more historic. The chances of all this happening was like winning the lottery.”

Monfort compared the phenomenon to another famous moment. In a photo taken in April 1986, a 15-year-old boy working as a La Masia ball boy is seen applauding Barcelona coach Terry Venables, who was carried on the players’ shoulders after a dramatic victory over Gothenburg. That teenager was Pep Guardiola. When Venables passed away in November 2023, Guardiola posted that very photo himself.

However, the Messi-Yamal photo has transcended most contemporary images, cementing itself as one of the most iconic photographs in football history. The five-month-old baby who once sat in that bathtub is now preparing to face Messi on the pitch, with the World Cup trophy on the line.