Lionel Messi Once Held Baby Lamine Yamal—Now They're Sharing Soccer History | E! News

A resurfaced photo of Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal stunned soccer fans ahead of the World Cup final on July 19, revealing an incredible full-circle moment nearly two decades in the making. The now-viral image showed a 20-year-old Messi posing with a 5-month-old Yamal during a 2007 UNICEF charity calendar photoshoot organized through the FC Barcelona Foundation. As Argentina and Spain prepared to see their superstar talents share the world stage, fans marveled at the unlikely connection between two generations of soccer greatness. Yamal’s father previously shared a behind-the-scenes photo from the shoot in 2024, calling it “the beginning of two legends.” Speaking about the remarkable coincidence, photographer Joan Monfort told BBC Sport on July 16 that the images felt like “a true miracle of destiny,” adding that the story seemed almost too unbelievable to be true.
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