Joan Monfort says the 2007 photo of Lionel Messi bathing five-month-old Lamine Yamal is the most famous picture he has ever taken. Messi and Lamine Yamal are back in the conversation because the image has resurfaced during the World Cup, with the possibility of the two meeting again in the World Cup final.
Roca Fonda in Mataro
Monfort said UNICEF did a raffle in the neighbourhood of Roca Fonda in Mataro where Lamine’s family lived. “They signed up for the raffle to have their picture taken at the Camp Nou with a Barca player. And they won the raffle.” That is how a one-off charity shoot ended up producing an image that now sits far beyond its original purpose.
Messi was 20 years old in the picture, and Yamal was five months old. Monfort said the setup was simple on paper and awkward in practice: “He [Messi] didn’t even know how to hold him at first.” The photo was taken in 2007, during a UNICEF fundraiser, when UNICEF was the jersey sponsor for Barca’s 2007-2008 season.
Messi in the locker room
Monfort also described the scene as Messi “was coming out of the locker room and suddenly he finds himself in another locker room with a plastic tub full of water and a baby in it. It was complicated.” That detail explains why the image feels so improbable now: the photographer was trying to capture a promotional moment, but the result depended on a player who had not yet settled into the role.
Monfort said the picture is now the biggest in his archive: “It’s the most famous photo I’ve taken in my life, by a long way.” He added, “So many people have been interested, again during this World Cup now.”
World Cup meeting path
The image has gained a second life because both Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal came up through Barcelona’s La Masia and could still end up on the same field in the World Cup final. Argentina would need to advance past England in a semifinal match for that to happen. Monfort said, “The chances of all this happening was like winning the lottery.”
That is why this photograph has moved from charity archive to football shorthand: it links two careers that started in the same system, then crossed again in public view. Monfort’s own view is blunt: “I’m just really happy it happened.”
He also said, “It’s especially nice in today’s football, when so much is to do with money and power.” If Yamal keeps climbing, the picture will only pick up more force as a piece of football history rather than a curiosity.
