2007 Messi–Yamal photo shoot

Uncommon card · No. 194160

In December 2007, 20-year-old Argentine footballer Lionel Messi posed for a charity photo shoot with five-month-old Lamine Yamal as part of a collaboration between Sport, a Catalan sports newspaper, FC Barcelona, and UNICEF to produce a fundraising calendar. Messi, then a rising star at Barcelona, was paired with Yamal by coincidence following a raffle won by Yamal's parents. The photographs remained largely obscure until July 2024, when Yamal's father shared them on social media ahead of a UEFA Euro 2024 match where Yamal played, at which point they gained widespread attention. The captures Messi, then at the start of what would become one of the greatest careers in football history, bathing Yamal, who would later emerge as one of the sport's most prominent young players. The images attracted renewed attention in July 2026 ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Spain, in which Yamal, by then 19 years old and a rising football star, faced Messi, aged 39, who was approaching...

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