​Why Lionel Messi bathed Lamine Yamal in viral baby photo 19 years ago originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.No two players have better showcased the age range of soccer stars at the 2026 World Cup than Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFor Argentina’s superstar, the tournament has been further proof of his all-time greatness, contending for the Golden Boot while putting on a show and leading his team on another deep run as the defending champion. For Spain’s 19-year-old, however, the World Cup has been an opportunity for his stardom to reach a global audience for the first time.With Argentina and Spain both reaching the 2026 World Cup semifinals, a mind-blowing crossover between Messi and Yamal has resurfaced online: baby photos. Long ago, Messi was photographed holding the future soccer star.Here’s what to know about the viral baby photos of Lamine Yamal with a younger Lionel Messi.2026 WORLD CUP HQ:Latest World Cup news | Full World Cup schedule | Buy World Cup ticketsAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs Yamal and Messi have moved through the World Cup bracket, with the potential for a Spain vs. Argentina final matchup, the photos of the two soccer stars nearly 20 years ago have resurfaced on social media.In the photos, Messi gave the future Spain star a bubble bath in a plastic bathtub.MORE: What Lionel Messi has said about retirement plans The photoshoot with Messi and Yamal was taken in 2007, 19 years prior to Spain and Argentina contending for the 2026 World Cup trophy.Yamal was just a six-month-old baby in the photos.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMORE:Inside Lionel Messi’s goals since turning 30 years oldMessi took the photos in fall 2007 with a young Yamal as part of a charity calendar for his then-club FC Barcelona.In 2024, Joan Monfort the photographer who took the photos freelancing for the Associated Press, told the outlet that the photoshoot was part of a charity drive hosted by humanitarian aid organization UNICEF and local Barcelona sports outlet Diario Sport. There was a raffle held, with families entering for a chance to have their picture taken at the FC Barcelona stadium with a player.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs it turned out, Yamal’s family won the raffle, with his mother,  Sheila Ebana, also appearing in the photos. Messi, however, wasn’t initially sure “how to interact with baby Lamine,” Monfort told the AP.“Messi is a pretty introverted guy, he’s shy,” Monfort told the AP. “He 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. He didn’t even know how to hold him at first.”In 2024, with Yamal shining at Euro 2024 and becoming the youngest goal scorer in Euros history, the photoshoot began to resurface once again, with confirmation that it was, in fact, a real crossove