UNICEF Confirms Iconic Messi and Baby Lamine Yamal Photos Are 100% Authentic
The widely circulated photographs showing a 20-year-old Lionel Messi bathing baby Lamine Yamal are 100% authentic, as officially confirmed by UNICEF.
The global children’s agency released a public clarification to shut down internet speculation that the iconic pictures were digitally altered or generated by AI.The Story Behind the PhotoThe Year: The photoshoot took place in December 2007 inside the visitor’s dressing room at Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium.
The Raffle: Yamal’s parents, Mounir Nasraoui and Sheila Ebana, won a local humanitarian raffle organized by the Catalan newspaper Diario Sport and UNICEF.
The prize was a professional photo session with a Barcelona first-team player.Pure Coincidence: By complete chance, the family was paired with a rising 20-year-old superstar, Lionel Messi.
The Setting: At the time, Lamine Yamal was only five months old. The photographer, Joan Monfort, captured the unforgettable moment of a shy Messi helping Yamal’s mother give the infant a bath in a small blue plastic tub.
The imagery originally resurfaced during Euro 2024 but exploded in relevance ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final, where Lionel Messi’s Argentina faces off against Lamine Yamal’s Spain. Today, both generational talents are global football icons and serve as official UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors, using their immense platforms to support children’s rights worldwide.
📸 UNICEF
Of course they are,these. Were taken before AI was all over the place,I remember them