A version of this article was first published in July 2024.
“It was a difficult shoot,” said photographer Joan Monfort. Athletic. “You could say I shed a little blood to accept this.
“Lionel Messi is still shy. He was much more shy when he first started, and he ended up there with a tiny baby in a plastic bathtub full of water. There was little interaction at first. It was difficult for everyone. But gradually it started to happen, and in the end it turned out to be a pretty good photo.”
In December 2007, Monfort photographed Messi, 20, who had begun his legendary career at Barcelona just over three years earlier, and Lamin Yamal, who was five months old.
It was published in the 2008 charity calendar organized by the Barcelona Club Foundation and the newspaper Diario Sport, with the money raised going to UNICEF and other charities throughout Catalonia.
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Then, as part of an annual initiative, members of the Barcelona team were photographed next to children. Hundreds of families collaborated and most of the photographs are now forgotten except for the precious personal memories of those who took part.
It just so happened that Yamal, the future Barca star, was paired with Messi, who won the Ballon d’Or eight times.
The bathing photo, as well as several other images from the shoot, including one of Messi holding baby Yamal in a towel and another of Yamal’s mother Sheila Ebana helping to wash her son, returned to public view during the 2024 European Championships when the teenager’s father Mounir Nasraoui shared the photo on social media.
“It’s something incredible,” Monfort said. Athletic in an interview in July 2024. “Back then, no one could have imagined that this child would become what he is now, and you also could not know that Messi would become what he has become.
“We’re talking about 2007. Messi was just starting at Barca. Fate plays a big role in these things.”
In December 2007, Messi had already won two La Liga titles and the Champions League, but he was still just an emerging talent in a team full of established stars, including Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol and Thierry Henry.
“They gave you a list of 12 players, one for each month,” Monfort said. “Often footballers come and say: “Come on, let’s do this. I’m in a hurry, what do you want to do?” But you’ll have to take your time.
“It can be a little cold, especially in photography where you need interaction between two people who don’t know each other. Then when one is a child and the other is 20, it can get difficult. But it worked out pretty well.”
“The mother was very helpful. Her presence was super necessary, so the baby didn’t feel too strange. You’re looking for a gentle image – something sweet and cuddly.”
Yamal and Spain will meet Portugal in the World Cup round of 16 on Monday – and could face Messi and Argentina in the final on July 19 (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Montfort always made sure that each family received copies of the photographs he took with his child to keep, especially in this case, given the efforts Yamal’s mother made to take him to the Camp Nou from the town of Mataro, northeast of Barcelona.
“I always wanted to give them a photo, it makes them very happy,” Monfort said. “The player may not be too worried, but the children’s parents will be very happy. They lived 40 km (25 miles) away from us. Not everyone would do this with a small child. They would have to make the trip and then wait for the player to arrive so everything is ready.”
Some six-and-a-half years later, Yamal began traveling regularly from Mataro to train with Barcelona after joining La Masia’s youth academy in 2014.
His progress has been phenomenal. Yamal made his La Liga debut at the age of 15 in April 2023. He made his international debut for Spain at the age of 16 in September of the same year. He was a key member of the Spain team that won Euro 2024 and is now Spain’s biggest star at the World Cup.
Meanwhile at club level, Yamal wears Messi’s iconic old number 10 shirt for Barca and has become their closest successor to the Argentina legend, who achieved much in his 21 years in Catalonia, joining the team in September 2000 as a 13-year-old.
“The chance of this happening is one in a million,” Monfort said. “This is such luck.
Lionel Messi and Argentina will face Egypt in the World Cup round of 16 on Tuesday (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
“It happens a little more these days when people have their phones and share photos, but it’s like a photo of Pep Guardiola as a child applauding (former Barcelona and England coach) Terry Venables, being carried on the shoulders of players. When Venables died (in November 2023), Pep posted that image.”
This photo of 15-year-old Guardiola, then a student at La Masia and a Barca baseball player and later a Barca player and coach, was taken in April 1986. Englishman Venables was then halfway through his three-year stint as coach and was elevated to the top by players Paco Clos and Migueli after the team went down 3-0 in the European Cup semi-final against IFK Gothenburg to progress on penalties.
Monfort is still taking photographs. He currently works as a freelancer for Madrid sports newspaper Diario AS and other clients including Agence France-Presse. He was surprised when a former colleague from Diario Sport contacted him after a photo of Messi and Yamal went viral during Euro 2024.
“He asked me if it was a photo of me,” Monfort said. “I said yes. He sent me a photo and I asked him who the child was. He started laughing and said, ‘Lamin, Lamin.’
“He told me that my dad posted it on social media. In Sports, they could hardly believe it. They just realized it too. It was all really amazing. We take so many photos, so many images. Some of them will stay.”
“This is the most famous photograph I have taken in my life, in a long time. So many people became interested, again during this World Cup. If Lamin continues to grow the way he is growing, photography will become even more historic. The odds of all this happening were like winning the lottery. Although it did not decide me financially for life (laughs).
“I’m just really glad it happened. It’s especially nice in modern football when so much has to do with money and power.”