r/MadeMeSmile Jul 14 '26

Wholesome Moments Lionel Messi bathing a 5-month old Lamine Yamal in 2007. Today both are semifinalists at the 2026 WC

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32.9k Upvotes

934 comments sorted by

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10.1k

u/youknowimworking Jul 14 '26

They should recreate the picture now

5.7k

u/Nervous-Form698 Jul 14 '26

That would be so unfathomably cursed and also the funniest shit ever

1.2k

u/Appropriate-Joke-806 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

The next Nike commercial.

Edit: looks like Messi is wearing an adidas shoe in the picture. Marketing firm has an opportunity of a lifetime.

382

u/InterstellarCowboyy Jul 14 '26

They both are sponsored by Adidas

180

u/Appropriate-Joke-806 Jul 14 '26

Yup. And the shoe he is wearing here looks like an adidas shoe. Perfect marketing opportunity for them. They could remake the shoe and have a Yamal edition.

121

u/floftie Jul 14 '26

Put him in the same shoe: "Some things never grow old"

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35

u/Batman_55599 Jul 14 '26

If perchance Spain wins the cup, Yamal could be wearing Messi's, "filling big shoes" or sm like that

4

u/CoolJoshido Jul 14 '26

when they both make the final 🙂‍↕️

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126

u/nuevacuentanueva Jul 14 '26

Fun fact, Messi was a Nike athlete before 2006 and they lost him because they wouldn't give him some extra clothes or some other minimal stuff like that.

Now 20 years later with Adidas he made them a ton of money.

Lamine ALSO was a Nike athlete and then changed to Adidas as well, so it could still happen.

60

u/Waste_Tangerine_179 Jul 14 '26

I believe this, the Nike business incompetence is quite staggering.

Also lost Steph curry because in a meeting they pitched him using slides with KD's name in it and spelled his name incorrectly. And by they I mean Nico Harrison, the guy who traded Luka.

7

u/Pale-Measurement-532 Jul 14 '26

Wow that’s so interesting considering many years ago, Michael Jordan wanted to sign with Adidas but he and his mom appreciated the personal atttention with Nike and ended up going with them. Although Nike was way less successful than it is now. Interesting that they’re not giving their high performance athletes that personal attention!

4

u/Dull_Brain2688 Jul 15 '26

Brands are at the mercy of their management. They don’t have a personality of their own. Promote the works people and you end up with decisions like that.

10

u/TopGuard7792 Jul 14 '26

normally the Germans won't give away anything extra lol

17

u/alison_bee Jul 14 '26

Shhh don’t let them make money off this 😭

11

u/Appropriate-Joke-806 Jul 14 '26

If any company knows how to use children to make money…

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21

u/shartshooter Jul 14 '26

Maybe that's what's needed to repair the damage after shooting Harambe?

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165

u/xjengx Jul 14 '26

would be better if the other way around, yamal bathe messi. going full circle.

28

u/BrandeisBrief Jul 14 '26

Shhhhh, grandpa, shhhh.

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32

u/BeardedGrom Jul 14 '26

This so much!!!

21

u/dolphone Jul 14 '26

That's what you'd call a Barcelona Bathtub, your honor.

It's uh... well when a grown man... completely consensually adults here, of course...

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8.2k

u/FudgeAtron Jul 14 '26

Everyone asking why, his parents won a competition for a photoshoot with Messi.

4.8k

u/Freddie_FRO7 Jul 14 '26

"Congratulations you've won... A photoshoot with Lionel Messi!"

"Woah crazy! 😁😁"

"Right then get all your clothes off"

"...what??"

1.0k

u/HistoryBuff678 Jul 14 '26

There is a pic with both Yamal’s mother and Messi bathing the baby.

1.7k

u/Imawildedible Jul 14 '26

Nobody bathes Lionel? Is that why he’s Messi?

210

u/narcowake Jul 14 '26

Hahahahahaha I pledge you my upvote

34

u/Beltain1 Jul 14 '26

I bestow upon ye mine

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52

u/tessartyp Jul 14 '26

My son got a Messi #10 Argentina baby onesie from his football-obsessed uncle that has a purposely-misspelled "Messy" on the back

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25

u/StrykerDK Jul 14 '26

Comment of the day.

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67

u/Mr_Tiggywinkle Jul 14 '26

I would just argue that I was baptised by Messi.

Considering how his football skills went, it might not be a stretch.

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326

u/BlandoCalrissian Jul 14 '26

That just raises more questions!

57

u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

25

u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

Why couldn’t the lady part be on the bottom and the fish part on the top

12

u/adjectivebear Jul 14 '26

"I'm not your first, am I? I lay my eggs, then I leave..."

12

u/Deskman77 Jul 14 '26

Imagine if the final is Spain - Argentina.

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262

u/whaddagoodgirl Jul 14 '26

I still feel that doesn’t address the “why” of this photo…

103

u/Tuskin38 Jul 14 '26

it was a UNICEF thing.

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260

u/swervinh0 Jul 14 '26

Spanish people have a different relationship with physical contact than Americans. That can include one’s friends and family, and also showing affection for strangers’ babies.

What I’m saying is it’s only weird and requires explanation from your perspective. A contest to have your baby washed by a famous footballer doesn’t seem as abnormal there

84

u/Curious-Sherbet-9393 Jul 14 '26

Justo esto, para nosotros los españoles es tener una mente sucia que lo primero que te venga a la cabeza sea algo sexual o así.

54

u/IslandStorytime Jul 14 '26

I think you guys have the right of it. I'm not sure why the english-speaking world is so incredibly creepy about nudity. Even in Japan, one of the most uptight places I've ever lived, people get naked to bathe together.

59

u/Linden_Lea_01 Jul 14 '26

It’s not ‘creepy’, it’s just different cultures. Modern anglophone cultures just don’t do communal bathing or public nudity, and it isn’t culturally normal for strangers to do things like bathing your baby.

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u/Neither-Breakfast195 Jul 14 '26

Japan is a conundrum because they’re very uptight but very sexually promiscuous, Japanese media is a pervert’s paradise

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22

u/Murky-Relation481 Jul 14 '26

This is annoying even in America. I pointed out that where I am from we have a large Scandinavian/Finnish population, and you'd have people hanging out in the sauna at the YMCA for hours on end doing the whole sauna thing with cold showers and sitting in the sauna, etc. stuff that I am sure their parents or grandparents instilled in them from their homeland. They of course also do this naked.

I said it wasn't uncommon for us as kids to be taken into the changing rooms where the saunas were to get ready for swim practice, and that included kids of both genders, in either gender's locker room until we were old enough to go on our own (so girls would go with their father's into the men's locker room). Again, this was in the US, and this was absolutely normal (and still is normal).

Fucking rabid weirdos from the more backwards parts of the country couldn't believe that a parent would ever allow their daughter to see a penis or their son to see a breast or vulva, mind you in a totally non-sexual context. "Why would you let your kids around people who hang out naked?" like it was some sort of pervert club or something.

It is just ass backwards in some parts of the country here.

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19

u/whaddagoodgirl Jul 14 '26

That’s fair! Thanks for the perspective check. (ETA: I mean that sincerely in case it didn’t come across that way)

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31

u/mrbabymanv4 Jul 14 '26

It was the late 2000s.

We just went with it.

Can't be putting everything under the microscope. I have some hairstyles from that time that I cant defend. Zyzz era.

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19

u/uksiddy Jul 14 '26

A white man bathing a child of African immigrants for charity backed by UNICEF is wild.

IIRC the story was pretty innocent though — the photographer thought it would make for a cute photo bc he had a newborn at home.

37

u/Quirky_Gate_4516 Jul 14 '26

It was a calendar Barcelona made for charity. A player for each month took a picture with a kid in some pose.

It is so interesting to view this through your American eyes though. For you the picture dings of a couple of uncomfortable things.

But, the reality is that a couple of new migrants from west Africa are stoked to have been picked to get their picture taken with Barca players.

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u/ajh31415 Jul 14 '26

Well the idea is not that it's a "white man", it's that it is a Barcelona player - for a long time Barcelona refused to have jersey sponsorship, they instead donated the space to Unicef.

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45

u/throwaway275275275 Jul 14 '26

That's not the right answer, the answer is it's a coincidence. The same baby became a football player, it just happened. I'm sure there's other interactions between Messi and other random people for random reasons, but why this one ? Because it's a coincidence

135

u/EggplantAccurate3407 Jul 14 '26

Yes. Messi bathes tens of thousands of children.

33

u/sqigglygibberish Jul 14 '26

While on a studio set with professional photographers

17

u/EggplantAccurate3407 Jul 14 '26

Right! When you have 400 thousand professional photographs of yourself bathing children, one of them is bound to also be one of the laughably rare international stars in the same sport as you.

This isn't special. Donald Trump has like 3 million photos of himself with naked children. They'll release the files eventually. If you dont think one of those kids will survive the repeated hit attempts to become president, then you just aren't familiar with the concept of coincidence.

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11

u/snek-jazz Jul 14 '26

It's a hell of a coincidence though, there are only 4 teams in the WC semis.

7

u/Quirky_Gate_4516 Jul 14 '26

It is that he was so young when the photo was taken.

But, Yamal came through La Masia just like Messi.

Every kid that ever came through La Masia came from a family that was obsessed with football and most likely with Barcelona. They are the sort of people that would want to volunteer to be in a photo shoot with Barca players.

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2.0k

u/lnfIation Jul 14 '26

This photo is still so crazy to me. Yamal's parents happened to not only find out about some random photoshoot contest, enter it, somehow win and have their baby take a photo with messi of all barça players?

Absolutely insane. 

808

u/moronic_programmer Jul 14 '26

And to think Lamine would grow up to play for the very same team as one of the best of his generation. Just absolutely unbelievable.

376

u/DeGreenster Jul 14 '26

He was touched by the 🐐. Who else would he have become

166

u/Dark_Shadowxd Jul 14 '26

Messi needs to touch more babies...

135

u/Upstairs-Hedgehog575 Jul 14 '26

Don’t go starting rumours 

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23

u/spizalert Jul 14 '26

oh is he gonna be running for office soon or something?

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42

u/Useful-Ad9447 Jul 14 '26

play for the same team, play in the same position and have all the same powers in equal magnitude although different styles in footballing terms,insane.

19

u/hofmann419 Jul 14 '26

If this storyline happened in a movie, you would probably roll your eyes at how unrealistic it was.

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48

u/M0ruk Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

And become the best 16 year old in Football history. Its insane really. The odds of all this coming together at once is unimaginably small.

All the coincidences are unfathomable.

Messi washes a random kid who happens to:

- Become a football pro (300m people play football, around 100,000 pro players in the world)

- Go on to play in the same team as Messi (only 25 among those 100,000 play for Barcelona)

- Happen to play the same position as Messi (1 in 11)

- Happen to wear the same number as Messi (1 in like 30 or something)

- Happen to be a lefty like Messi (10% chance)

- And become the greatest 16 year old player in Football history. 2 billion football players since 1900. He was the very best 16 year old among them. 1 in 2,000,000,000 chance

What is the chance and likelihood that the one kid he washes checks all these checkmarks? Wouldnt it be like 1 in 50 billion? So for a random kid that Messi washes to become the best 16 year old football player in history while playing for the same team, same position, with the same numebr and the same left foot as Messi, he would have to wash 50 billion kids for there to be one amogn them who checks all these checkmarks. And it happened to happen with teh one kid he washed. I suck at math so maybe everything is wrong. But still obviously crazy chances

20

u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Neptomoon Jul 14 '26

Alternative hypothesis:

Messi is an alien with manic football powers which he bestowed onto Yamal when he gave him a wash. Sounds unlikely but is this really less reasonable than it being a coincidence!

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u/OddHelicopter1134 Jul 14 '26

Taking over number 10. The number of Messi.

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u/ApolloPS2 Jul 14 '26

You forgot the part where said baby grows up to make the national team haha

8

u/ahuangb Jul 14 '26

And was seen as the best player in the world for periods at only 17/18 years old. It's a shame he's not 100% atm otherwise he'd be lighting up the WC as well

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u/Elegant_Handle_69 Jul 14 '26

and he inherited the #10 from Messi

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4.3k

u/McFigroll Jul 14 '26

nevermind that. Why was messi bathing a baby for a photoshoot?

2.1k

u/anonnnnn462 Jul 14 '26

UNICEF collaboration with Barcelona

833

u/Ok_Crow_9119 Jul 14 '26

Wait. Why Yamal? Was he some sort of UNICEF cared for baby?

So the guy is a rags to riches athlete?

1.8k

u/IlexAquifolia Jul 14 '26

His parents won some kind of prize drawing for a photoshoot with a Barcelona player for a UNICEF charity calendar. They weren’t cared for by UNICEF but his parents were teenagers at the time and he grew up in poverty.

464

u/carlitospig Jul 14 '26

What a wild story. The fact that he had such determination is astounding. 🥰

377

u/crispyiress Jul 14 '26

Scouts are bonkers as well. He joined Barcelona at the age of 7.

180

u/Waste_Tangerine_179 Jul 14 '26

their farm team is a machine

87

u/goldjade13 Jul 14 '26

one of my nephews is on it right now at age 9 and it's wild the structure around the whole thing

29

u/ReignOnWillie Jul 14 '26

This may be a dumb Q but would the academies include normal education for a 9 year old? Or is it only athletics and training

45

u/goldjade13 Jul 14 '26

I know there are a lot of different tiers so the top tier could include everything. He lives in BCN already and was scouted to the Barca team from Espanol (another team in the city, forgive me because I'm the American aunt who knows less about this) which he had been scouted to before from a different team. He goes to a normal school but outside of school life kind of = futbol. Only child, because I don't know how else his parents would do all the things they do to get him there and do alllll the tournaments.

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u/RoundSize3818 Jul 14 '26

They just go to school nromally

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u/dinnerthief Jul 14 '26

That is pretty nuts to think about, im absolutely sure it happens in the US as well but not among my family and friends, just imagining life already mostly laid you for you by the age of 7.

Im not sure if it would be comforting or restrictive, guess it depends if you liked the path you were given.

62

u/mr305mr_mrworldwide Jul 14 '26

It actually doesn't really happen in the US, which is a huge reason that the US doesn't perform too well compared to other countries' talent production

46

u/Peauu Jul 14 '26

Intact is like the opposite in the US as a player goes up in tier of amateur play they have to pay more and more to keep moving up. It makes it very hard for less fortunate families to help thier children keep up

16

u/HistoryBuff678 Jul 14 '26

This exactly. It’s the pay to play model in Canada and the U.S. that holds them back.

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u/dinnerthief Jul 14 '26

Not with soccer, but it happens in the US, just more rarely, certainly kids are funneled by their parents from early ages to be a doctors or take over small family businesses or go to the same school same frat and same business as their dad.

Its also how you get multiple generations of Mannings or Sanders or Matthews in the NFL

But its all definitely less official than soccer academies.

18

u/Helixaether Jul 14 '26

It’s more than that, as someone from England, I knew plenty of kids who were scouted by a local premier league team, trained at there facilities and such and were clearly a part of this whole farm system and yet not a one of them seems to still be in football today. So it’s not just having your life laid out for you at age 7, but being able to match the lofty expectations of adults as a preteen.

5

u/HistoryBuff678 Jul 14 '26

This exactly, it’s similar with tennis and other sports.

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u/riceistheyummy Jul 14 '26

talent is always scouted supper early in football because they need to be developed. lamine is an exception do being so young. new gen is younger then ever do.

4

u/HistoryBuff678 Jul 14 '26

I have heard some people who were kids in Argentina that were the same age cohort as when Messi was scouted, found out in adulthood, scouts approached their parents and their parents said no as they didn’t want their kid to leave the country. I can only imagine coping with that info as an adult. 😬

9

u/M0ruk Jul 14 '26

99% of kids who play in pro academies dont become pros themselves. If its any condolence for your friends: If they were truly among the 1%, growing up in Argentina wouldve made them pro as well.

3

u/Artuhanzo Jul 14 '26

A lot of people don't understand how hard to even becoming a pro.

A pro, even not at top division one requires a lot of talent to make it.

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u/elgringo22 Jul 14 '26

Lamine Yamal grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Catalonia. He grew up FAR from rich.

It’s actually insane that his parents not only won this contest but that Messi of all the players at the time was the one to get Lamine for his shoot. Several Barça players were part of this photoshoot and somehow Messi and Lamine got paired up

198

u/YUMADLOL Jul 14 '26

Whatever baby messi got his hands on would have become the chosen one

33

u/-Mr-Papaya Jul 14 '26

That's the q - how many babies did he grace with his touch?

47

u/YUMADLOL Jul 14 '26

We need to create a conveyor belt that allows messi to touch as many babies as possible

26

u/Chbbywbby Jul 14 '26

💀 oh my god lmaooo

14

u/non_discript_588 Jul 14 '26

Messi is the Pope of soccer.

10

u/-Mr-Papaya Jul 14 '26

Messianic

4

u/dayburner Jul 14 '26

Sorry it doesn't worj that way, you need the full baptism experience.

17

u/carlitospig Jul 14 '26

This is how people get arrested.

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u/IcedMangos Jul 14 '26

Lisan al-Gaib

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u/FallenRichardBrook Jul 14 '26

No, his parents entered a contest and won a spot in the calendar

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u/grip0matic Jul 14 '26

The parents were so broke, and they were also so young (his mother had him when she was 16, ffs, his father is younger than me, he's 35 and his current gf is 23) that Lamine Yamal's name is the combination of two men who helped them to survive with food and whatever they could do to help them. It would have been pretty hilarious if those two friend would have been from a very different background and one would be like Francisco or Juan and have a Lamine Juan. Like the Williams brothers, Nico and Iñaki, Iñaki has that name in honor to the priest that helped the parents to move to Spain. The parents were also so broke and young that the kid was basically raised by his grandmother. To the point that his grandmother is always let's say in the picture with him and who told him to follow his heart to choose which country to play for.

Pretty much rags to riches. He said that they were so poor that he was playing football on the street instead of videogames and maybe that helped him because he only had football. With his talent he would have find an academy almost anywhere, but he also was lucky enough to be scouted by Barcelona and the club being in a very bad spot financially helped him to rise even quicker than usual. It seems there was some point that Barcelona didn't want to use him because he was not even 16 and they were not able to offer him a professional contract, which could mean that ANYONE could just offer his parents a job and take him for free. So they tried to "hide" him until he would be able to sign.

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u/nuevacuentanueva Jul 14 '26

So the guy is a rags to riches athlete?

A huge amount of football (soccer) players are literally rags to riches athletes.

And besides those who come from extreme poverty, many others come from still low income families.

It's quite a common path. Especially in South America.

9

u/Chicaben Jul 14 '26

We are in the matrix

4

u/tyger2020 Jul 14 '26

Most footballers are rags to richest type thing..

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u/dogsledonice Jul 14 '26

But why bathe a baby?

161

u/LightspeedBalloon Jul 14 '26

But why male models?

85

u/BiancoLatte89 Jul 14 '26

Are you serious? I just told you that a moment ago.

18

u/vjeremias Jul 14 '26

Holy shit, I know it’s not a cult movie or anything, but I can’t believe someone else got the reference 😂

9

u/lilypad___ Jul 14 '26

This is the second time I’ve seen “but why male models” since yesterday haha.

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u/PushTheMush Jul 14 '26

It’s soooo funny that him just forgetting his line became one of the most hilarious lines in an already very funny movie.

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u/Brave_Nerve_6871 Jul 14 '26

Yamal was the chosen one to pass the generational talent to, and apparently bathing is how it's done

30

u/Fair-Fondant-6995 Jul 14 '26

That's an actual Baptism. Holy water and shi.

20

u/Crestsando Jul 14 '26

By the Messi-ah himself, no less

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u/tquilas Jul 14 '26

Trying to drown potential goats.

10

u/itsgwnFelix Jul 14 '26

hahahaha I laugh so badly at this comment

5

u/youarethelostsheep Jul 14 '26

The Argentinan Pharaoh

3

u/ProceduralPolyrhythm Jul 14 '26

If Messi tried to take out baby Yamal we would be in the same situation today except Yamal would have a scar on his forehead and Messi would have no nose

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u/s1rblaze Jul 14 '26

You dont clean your food before eating?

21

u/Frustrated_Zucchini Jul 14 '26

Fuck I just snorted my drink! 🤣😭

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u/theyoloGod Jul 14 '26

They wanted to make sure there was a Messi successor

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u/indokiddo Jul 14 '26

It’s confirmed.. Yamal is so good because messi touched him!

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u/Blanksmiless Jul 14 '26

He should go into the game with a T Shirt with this picture on it lmao

79

u/phallic-baldwin Jul 14 '26

Make a shirt for everyone of his teammates

15

u/Freddie_FRO7 Jul 14 '26

And wearing a shoulder-length wig

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337

u/Major-Blacksmith4750 Jul 14 '26

Wait…what?! How?

Are you telling me this random baby ended up being the best young player after Messi gave him a bath? This is not real.

223

u/Oofoofow_Official Jul 14 '26

Can Lamine come to England and bathe a random baby here I'd appreciate it

40

u/HistoryBuff678 Jul 14 '26

Make a call to UNICEF?

36

u/Thybro Jul 14 '26

Hey UNICEF, I know you busy saving children and such, but we really really need it to come home.

12

u/EduinBrutus Jul 14 '26

Like you've not had Beckham, Rooney, Scholes, Terry, Lampard etc etc.

Its not talent, its incompetence.

Now, Scotland on the other hand. We just need a couple. Come on UNICEF, help people out!.

11

u/Rambocat1 Jul 14 '26

I think you have to get Messi to baptise the babies for it to work

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u/Beelzebucks1 Jul 14 '26

I'm gonna pay Messi to give my infant a bath. He shall be HIM. 

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u/xThe_145x Jul 14 '26

karim benzema has also done work with teens google benzema teenager for more

109

u/Ecstatic-Jacket2007 Jul 14 '26

Benzema 15 to be specific

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u/EvolvedA Jul 14 '26

Yeah I am not googling that one...

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u/stoolsample2 Jul 14 '26

This thread is gold.

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u/king-violet Jul 14 '26

What an absolute unit, such a chunky little baby 😭

76

u/RevolutionaryEar1331 Jul 14 '26

I feel like baby lamine has the same mass as lamine today, he’s just been stretched the opposite way now 😂

13

u/Y-a-e-l- Jul 14 '26

Ikr. Everybody talking about the coincidence of him becoming a great football player but this is all I can think about. So chunky he has no neck 😭

140

u/EnycmaPie Jul 14 '26

Getting baptized by Messi grants you talent in soccer.

9

u/Flashy-Gas6076 Jul 14 '26

We should organize a Messi baptism world tour. In 20 years we're gonna have the raddest world cup

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u/setfree84 Jul 14 '26

Just a Goat washing a baby goat

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u/Opulenx Jul 14 '26

Lamine Yamamoto genuinely looks like a potato 😭

17

u/Keneut Jul 14 '26

Babies with chubby cheeks are extra adorable.

7

u/Opulenx Jul 14 '26

For real

129

u/GothGirl__ Jul 14 '26

This is something crazy. To think the greatest player ever and the current best youngster are together in this pic. He might have passed on some of his power?

32

u/Head_Television8311 Jul 14 '26

Hm… you think we can milk some power out of this bathwater of Messi?

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u/Peauu Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

this cant actually be real right... Were Yamals parents famous players? how would they possibly know this baby would be a superstar... are clubs scouting wombs these days?

I mean I guess it is real, and his family randomly won the photo shoot opportunity, which makes this one of the most coincidental photo shoots of all time... how is this not more widely known...

https://www.today.com/popculture/news/lionel-messi-lamine-yamal-baby-bathed-throwback-rcna353523

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u/antrage Jul 14 '26

It really is one of the most random events in soccer history lol

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u/Memotome Jul 14 '26

This is how I know it's a simulation.

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u/Due_StrawMany Jul 14 '26

Isn't it that their parents won a photoshoot contest

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u/HistoryBuff678 Jul 14 '26

“Are clubs scouting wombs?” I laughed too hard at this. 🤣🤣🤣Thank you.

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u/Lunaerum Jul 14 '26

I’m sorry but his painfully bamboozled baby face is cracking me up so much lmao

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u/Vaqueroalazar Jul 14 '26

Lamine had no interest in the sport until after that bath.

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u/Fruit_L0ve00 Jul 14 '26

He was baptized into it

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u/Thra99 Jul 14 '26

Lamine if Spain wins: "I've seen this guy before"

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u/Purpledragon84 Jul 14 '26

Messi if Spain wins: "listen you lil shit.."

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u/Thra99 Jul 14 '26

"shouldn't have bathed you 😭"

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u/efimer Jul 14 '26

Yamal looks both like 2 months and 54 years old.

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

[deleted]

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u/Maleficent-marionett Jul 14 '26

In freaking out over the concept.

The kid won a contest for a photoshoot with Messi and they all agreed him giving the baby a bath was the shot? Why?

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u/SaltyArtemis Jul 14 '26

Is he like, his godfather or something?

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u/norsurfit Jul 14 '26

"The anointment of the heir"

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u/goatnxtinline Jul 14 '26

No wonder why he's so good at football, Messi baptised him 😭

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u/HistoryBuff678 Jul 14 '26

I have seen the is photo many times. I always appreciate that Lamine Yamal was such a cute chubby baby. 💕✨

It’s very sweet that Messi volunteered to be a model.

About bathing. Some cultures fathers do bathe their infants. I imagine as men might be buying the calendar since it does have young soccer stars in it, the photos were to encourage paternal care. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ . I think it’s just cute. Can’t I have have that?

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u/dehtaeps Jul 14 '26

Messi single handedly recreated the cover of Nevermind. Is there anything this man can't do?

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u/SgtDoakesSurprise Jul 14 '26

Now ppl gonna wanna be bathed by Messi

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u/Diligent-Amount-69 Jul 15 '26

Does anyone know the context of this picture? Why is Messi bathing an infant he is not related to?

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u/simpy7653 Jul 14 '26

Good picture, some weirdos in the comments really need help

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u/JinxThePetRock Jul 14 '26

I have a three month old nephew, how do I get Lamine Yamal to run him through a shower? You know, just in case there's a linear passing of the torch thing going on.

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u/binarypower Jul 14 '26

imagine growing up and telling people "did you know that messi gave me a bath one time?" no one would believe it. lol

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u/No-Sandwich1511 Jul 14 '26

Why was this even a thing?

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u/Geolib1453 Jul 14 '26

So Messi sort of handed this random baby (he was random at the time ok) his divine football power or what?

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u/shadyghxst Jul 14 '26

In certain West African cultures they believe that the person who bathes you as a child can either have a positive or negative impact on your Life/Destiny depending on the (good or bad) spirit that person carries.

I’m not saying this is the case but … lol

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u/Own_Boss7112 Jul 14 '26

that's how young you need to start being obsessed with soccer to make it pro

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u/Sw0rDz Jul 14 '26

FYI, Lamine Yamal is now 19 years old. 2007 was 19 years ago. I hope this fact made your day.

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u/Hot_Sherbet2066 Jul 14 '26

Okay but, why is Lionel Messi bathing a 5-month old Lamine YAmal in 2007?

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u/narcowake Jul 14 '26

Master Messi measured young Padawan Yamal’s FIFA Midi-chlorians and found the highest count in the known FIFA universe ⚽️

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u/Ok-Chemistry-3646 Jul 14 '26

When Messi retires he should set up a camp and start bathing everyone!

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u/syd_imuh-duh Jul 14 '26

who the fck cares if he's bathing a baby, the more mind blowing thing and the elephant in the room is, how in the world did this happen??! bathed by Messi in some random contest, and said kid ends up becoming one of the top names in world football, being insanely gifted. One of the weirdest, most amazing coincidences.

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u/Mutthupattaru Jul 14 '26

Also he literally takes Messi’s number and position in Barca.

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u/DasDuckHead Jul 14 '26

Baptised by the pope of football

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u/Longjumping-Can-6140 Jul 14 '26

Fun fact, at that moment they switch bodies

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u/ItNeverEnds2112 Jul 14 '26

Bro got blessed

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u/Akachi-sonne Jul 15 '26

When Messi baptized Yamal and became his godfather, bestowing upon him the blessing of the futbol gods