The Charity Calendar That Captured a Miracle

The image that captivated the football world ahead of the 2026 World Cup final — a young Lionel Messi bathing baby Lamine Yamal — was never intended to become an icon. It was born from a modest charity calendar project by FC Barcelona, pairing each first-team player with an infant. Photographer Joan Monfort, whose name is now attached to the viral photograph, only learned of the baby’s identity years later.

Speaking to the EFE news agency, Monfort explained that the 2007 calendar was a solidarity fundraiser. All Barcelona players participated, including a then-20-year-old Messi, who was not yet the global superstar he would become. To find the babies, a lottery was held in the Rocafonda neighbourhood of Mataró — a random draw that would unknowingly select an eight-month-old Lamine Yamal. Monfort remarked that had the parents been given a choice, they likely would have picked a more established name like Ronaldinho or Xavi.

The shoot itself was impromptu. There was no professional studio: Monfort hung a burgundy backdrop and used portable lights in a makeshift space. The interaction between Messi and the infant was awkward, with Monfort suspecting it was the first time the Argentine had ever held a baby. The scene — a soapy bath with the baby’s mother, Sheila Ebana, assisting — was captured almost by accident. The resulting photograph was later shared online and drew immediate attention, but the boy’s identity remained a family secret for nearly two decades.

Now, with Spain and Argentina set to clash in the World Cup final, the photograph has resurfaced as a symbol of fate. Both players have acknowledged the coincidence: Yamal joked that both he and Messi have “grown a little,” while Messi told FIFA that the photo’s existence is “crazy” and called Yamal one of football’s great promises.

How a Lottery, a Young Messi, and a Random Baby Created Football’s Most Beloved Image

The random draw that defied logic

The lottery in Rocafonda was designed to give any local family a chance to have their child photographed with a Barça player. No club official, photographer, or parent knew that the baby drawn would later become a footballer of Yamal’s calibre. Monfort, who covered Barcelona for years, admits he did not recognise the child’s name when a former colleague at Sport finally connected the dots, dubbing the picture “el baño de los dioses” — the bath of the gods. The sheer improbability — a 1-in-many-hundreds baby, paired with a player who would define an era, and now both meeting in a World Cup final — elevates the photograph from a pleasant footnote to a piece of football folklore.

When Messi was just a teammate, not a myth

In 2007, Messi was a promising talent but not the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner the world knows today. Monfort’s recollection that Messi seemed uneasy handling the infant humanises the star in a way few images do. The snapshot captures a moment before the myth fully formed, adding a layer of vulnerability and chance that professional shoots rarely achieve. This backstory makes the photograph resonate beyond sports circles, illustrating how ordinary charity work can, decades later, collide with extraordinary moments on the world’s biggest stage.

What the renewed attention means for the final

The photograph has become an emotional backdrop to Spain-Argentina. For fans, it adds a narrative arc: a baby held by football’s future king now faces him as a rival. Media outlets have amplified the story, but Monfort insists it is not something that can be bought or replicated. The attention underscores the public’s appetite for tales of destiny and coincidence, especially when framed within a World Cup final that already carries historic weight.