The Israel-Palestine Question That Splits The Football Generations

The Messi bathing a baby photograph was taken in 2007. When photographer Joan Monfort arrived at Barcelona's Camp Nou for a charity calendar photoshoot in the autumn of 2007, did he know who the long-haired young man in front of his camera was destined to become?

Lionel Messi was 20. The baby was just six months old.

Messi, then 20, was already emerging as football's next great superstar. The world would soon begin calling him the "Messiah".

Regardless of whether he foresaw Messi's stardom, Monfort cannot have known the baby would in future stand between Messi and the World Cup.

That baby was Lamine Yamal. In a turn of events that could outdo scripted cinema, the universe would bring them face to face on the most watched field nineteen years later.

The Photo

In the photograph, Messi holds the six-month-old Yamal close to his chest. The photograph first became widely known during Euro 2024, when Yamal's father shared it on Instagram with the caption: "The beginning of two legends."

Monfort, now 59, was working for the charity calendar jointly organised by local newspaper Diario Sport and UNICEF. The concept was simple: Barcelona players would be photographed with children selected from the Roca Fonda neighbourhood in Mataró, where Yamal's parents lived.

Yamal was chosen through a draw from among the families who had applied for the photoshoot.

The session, however, was not as easy as the iconic photograph might suggest.

The idea was for Messi to hold the baby in a plastic tub. But Messi, then a shy and introverted young player, was unsure how to handle a baby and became nervous, Monfort later recalled.

Years passed before Monfort discovered the identity of the child in his photograph. A friend eventually told him that the baby he had photographed with Messi was now making headlines as one of football's biggest young talents.

A sports photographer since 1991, Monfort has captured countless major moments involving Barcelona and world football. Yet he says no other photograph has affected him in quite the same way.

The Continuation of Legacy

Yamal celebrated his 19th birthday last week and has been one of the standout players of the tournament, playing a key role in Spain's run to the final. His performances have already drawn comparisons with Messi.

The picture also captures two very different points in two extraordinary careers.

When it was taken, Messi was still two years away from establishing himself as a Barcelona legend. Yamal, meanwhile, has barely begun his journey.

Both would later come through Barcelona's famed La Masia academy. Messi went on to win almost everything the game had to offer and became a global football icon. This World Cup could mark his final appearance on the international stage.

River to the Sea

While many look at Yamal as the next football superstar, one of things that differentiate the Argentinian player from the Gen-Z player is their stance on global politics.

In a politically charged FIFA this year, Argentina - and by extension Messi - stands accused of winning by political interference. The Egypt-Argentina match rallied the criticism of unfairness against the latter, while it linked global politics regarding Palestine to the game and its ethics.

The Falkland Islands banner Argentinian players raised after winning yesterday’s game against England didn’t help either.

Messi is what media love to call apolitical, and critics love to call pro-Israel. While he has never taken an explicit political stance on the Palestine issue, his brand ambassador deal with OrCam, an Israeli AI company has raised many eyebrows.

Among FIFA related controversies too, Israel was always the point of contention. Many times he was “accused” of being “Jewish” while he is actually catholic, while an Algerian broadcaster this year claimed Messi was protected by a "Jewish lobby”. A false viral claim that Messi donated $1.5 million to Israel in 2026 was also later debunked.

However, many point to his earlier choices of choosing Israel even when there was tension. In 2019, Messi played in Tel Aviv, despite BDS protests and threats. This was right after a Palestinian FA president Jibril Rajoub was suspended by FIFA for a year after urging fans to burn Messi jerseys ahead of a canceled Argentina-Israel match.

Yamal,on the other hand, has publicly expressed solidarity with Palestine. During Barcelona's La Liga title parade in May, 2026, the 18-year-old held and waved a large Palestinian flag during the celebration, joining his teammates after the club clinched its title. He followed this by posting a photo of himself with the Palestinian flag on Instagram, where the post drew millions of likes and shares. The move had brought in fierce criticism on him, including from Israel's defense minister Israel Katz who said the act "incites hate".

Spain's PM Pedro Sánchez defended him, stating that Yamal "has merely expressed the solidarity with Palestine that millions of Spaniards feel" and dismissing critics of the flag-waving.

In Gaza, Palestinian artists painted a mural of Yamal waving the flag on the rubble of a destroyed building in a refugee camp just two days after the parade.

Yamal has previously spoken out against anti-Muslim chants directed at him during a Spain match against Egypt, calling the behavior disrespectful and racist.