This Video of Messi Baptizing Baby Lamine Yamal Is AI-Generated

Misbar investigated the circulating video and found it to be fake.

A reverse image search led by Misbar’s team found that the video was digitally created.

AI-Generated Video Shows Messi With Baby Yamal 

Contrary to social media claims, the video was created using artificial intelligence. 

Misbar's team traced the video back to its original publisher by searching on the video's watermark, discovering it belonged to an X account called "KickGPT." The user had uploaded the video on July 10 in a comment to "The Athletic | Football" account. 

A search of the publisher's bio revealed that the account is dedicated to "The Community where Football meets AI." The bio further explains, "Generative AI made accessible and usable for every facet of the football community on our collaborative platform."

The same account also uploaded a comic video featuring Yamal rapping during the same photo session with Messi.

The account also published other AI-generated football videos, including one that depicts Ronaldo transforming into Kylian Mbappé during the recent presentation of Mbappé at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

Messi and Baby Yamal Photoshoot for UNICEF and Barcelona

The baby in the photo session with Messi is indeed Barcelona and Spain’s teenage Lamine Yamal, who turned 17 on July 13.

CNN interviewed the photographer of the session at the time and revealed that Barcelona-based photographer Monfort had been a regular at sporting events around Spain for over 30 years. 

The photographer has recently gained global attention due to a photoshoot he did back in 2007. In this photoshoot, a then-20-year-old Lionel Messi is seen holding a baby as part of a UNICEF and Barcelona campaign. The Argentine soccer star also posed with the infant in a bath alongside the baby's mother.

“One colleague at the newspaper, SPORT, called me at 12 o’clock in the night and said to me: ‘Is this your picture?’” says the photographer Monfort. “And I answered: ‘Yes, this is my picture. I [took] this picture years ago.’ And I asked: ‘Who is the baby?’ And he [told] me the baby is Lionel Messi, of course. And the other baby is Lamine Yamal.”

Monfort says he is proud of the photo, reflecting on the "one in a billion" moment.

The photos of Messi holding Yamal caught the world's attention when Yamal's father posted a picture on Instagram. The image showed Yamal's mother and Messi smiling at the infant in a soapy bath, with the caption: "The beginning of two legends."

Lamine Yamal Wins the UEFA EURO 2024

Yamal, a 17-year-old player, was raised in the Rocafonda neighborhood of Mataró, a city close to Barcelona.

Lamine Yamal broke a record that stood for 66 years when he started for Spain in the Euro 2024 final against England, becoming the youngest player ever to play in a major international final and surpassing Pele's record set in the 1958 World Cup final. 

Also, Yamal was privileged to win the top goal of UEFA EURO 2024. 

The young player won the European Championship and the tournament’s Best Young Player award just a day after he turned 17.

Lionel Messi Wins the 2024 Copa America Title

Argentina lifted their 16th Copa America title on July 15 against Colombia. The game, held in Miami, was delayed by more than an hour after thousands of fans without tickets tried to enter the stadium.

At age 37, Messi made his 39th and possibly final Copa America appearance. Despite sustaining an ankle injury in the first half, he remained in the game and contributed one goal during the tournament.

This latest title, Argentina's 16th Copa win, follows their triumphs at the 2022 World Cup and the 2021 Copa America.

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