The incredible photoshoot that foreshadowed dream World Cup final
Updated . First published at
It was written in the stars. Argentina vs Spain in the World Cup final, Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal.
If you haven’t seen Joan Monfort’s famous photographs from 2007, here they are.
Lionel Messi poses with a six-month-old Lamine Yamal in 2007, just four years into the iconic Argentine’s legendary Barcelona career. AP
Baby Yamal and Messi pictured together Joan Monfort
Messi, then a Barcelona star aged 20, holding and bathing Yamal, a chubby cheeked six-month-old baby.
“Beautiful. It’s beautiful. It just shows the longevity of Messi,” ex-Socceroos captain Craig Foster said on Stan Sport’s Added Time.
Indeed. But why? Monfort explained the background to his incredible set of images for a charity calendar in a 2024 interview with the Associated Press.
“So UNICEF did a raffle in the neighbourhood of Roca Fonda in Mataró, where Lamine’s family lived,” Monfort said.
“They signed up for the raffle to have their picture taken at the Camp Nou with a Barça player. And they won the raffle.”
Messi, now 39 and Argentina’s captain, has three sons - Thiago, Mateo and Ciro - with his wife Antonela Roccuzzo.
But 19 years ago, he was a lot more comfortable with a football than with babies.
And so Yamal’s mother, Sheila Ebana, provided the young playmaker with a valuable assist.
“The stars aligned when Lamine met Messi, but it was very difficult,” Monfort recalled.
“Messi is very introverted and shy. He entered the changing room to find a plastic bathtub filled with water and a baby inside. In the beginning he did not know how to hold him...
Lionel Messi and a six-month-old Lamine Yamal with Yamal’s mother Sheila Ebana in 2007. AP
“It’s very exciting to be associated with something that has caused such a sensation. To tell you the truth, it’s a very nice feeling.”
Yamal’s father, Mounir Nasraoui, posted one of the photos on Instagram with the caption: “The beginning of two legends.”
Yamal is now 19 and Spain’s best player. He came into the tournament under an injury cloud but won a crucial penalty in Spain’s 2-0 semi-final masterclass against France.
“Lamine Yamal, the last three games, his direct opponent has had to be substituted with exhaustion halfway through the second half,” Adam Peacock said on Added Time.
Argentina shackled Jude Bellingham with niggly tactics in their 2-1 semi-final win and the England star lashed out by clipping the back of Valentin Barco’s head after the fulltime whistle.
Yamal will undoubtedly come in for similar treatment.
“I’d like to see Yamal really be decisive in the game,” Foster said.
Lamine Yamal will be a key man for Spain in their battle with Argentina. Getty Images
“Whoever wins, I want to see him do well. I was sad that that goal was ruled out actually against France in the semi (for offside). You know, I really love him because he’s also a brave young kid. He speaks out a lot.
“I like that in athletes, as you know. So I’d love to see him do well.”
Spain has been installed as slight favourites for Monday’s (AEST) final against the defending champions.
“It’s going to be difficult. The organisation of (manager Lionel) Scaloni of the Argentine team is quite amazing, actually, and so they’re going to get a lot of pressure on him (Yamal),” Foster said.
“So it’s just about whether he can break that.
“They’re going to have two players on him all the time, that’s for sure. They’re going to make sure that they don’t leave him one-on-one. They’ll be able to do that because they’ll be in mostly a medium (defensive) block, I reckon.
“And then what that means is - as Lamal has said - your problem then becomes (Dani) Olmo, right, and that’s why Olmo has been shining throughout the knockout stages... he’s making runs into a lot of space because everyone’s worried about other players.
“So they’ve got plenty of weapons to be able to get you. Obviously, I love their style of play, but there’s the risk - England showed the other side to it today - the risk of sitting back in defence.
“What Spain do is they take the other side of the risk by aggressive forward defending. If you’re going to do that against Messi, which they are, that’s going to be interesting because he’s the best guy in the world at wriggling out of that.”
Argentina’s path to the final
Record: Seven wins, zero draws, zero losses
Goals for: 19
Goals against: 7
Group stage: beat Algeria 3-0, beat Austria 2-0, beat Jordan 3-1
Knockout stage: beat Cape Verde 3-2, beat Egypt 3-2, beat Switzerland 3-1, beat England 2-1
Spain’s path to the final
Record: Six wins, one draw, zero losses
Goals for: 13
Goals against: 1
Group stage: drew with Cape Verde 0-0, beat Saudi Arabia 4-0, beat Uruguay 1-0
Knockout stage: beat Austria 3-0, beat Portugal 1-0, beat Belgium 2-1, beat France 2-0
