Nigeria, July 17 -- As the football world counts down to Sunday's 2026 FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Spain, UNICEF has brought back an iconic photograph that perfectly captures the passing of the torch from one global superstar to another.

In a post shared ahead of the final, UNICEF confirmed that the widely circulated image of a young Lionel Messi bathing baby Lamine Yamal is authentic, ending years of speculation fuelled by the rise of artificial intelligence-generated images.

"Yes, those photos you've seen are real," UNICEF wrote.

According to the UN agency, the photographs were taken more than 18 years ago during a UNICEF fundraising calendar photoshoot by Spanish photographer Joan Monfort, when a baby named Lamine Yam...