BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Almost two decades ago, photographer Joan Monfort didn't think much of his photo shoot of a teenage Lionel Messi bathing a cute baby boy in a plastic bathtub. Not until the remarkable twist of fate became clear years later, when that infant blossomed into Lamine Yamal.
Now those images of the longhaired Messi, his hands covered in soap suds as if anointing Yamal as soccer's Next Big Thing, have become the most talked about — and gawked about — in the runup to Sunday’s World Cup final, when Messi’s Argentina will play Yamal’s Spain for the biggest trophy in the sport.
“I have never been a believer or thought that anything was destined to occur, but I am beginning to have my doubts. This is beyond all reasonable explanations,” Monfort told The Associated Press from his home in Barcelona on Friday.
Monfort, who works as a freelance photojournalist for the AP, took the photos in 2007 as part of a charity calendar produced by local newspaper Sport and UNICEF.
Luck dictated that Yamal’s mother, who appears in the calendar photo, won a raffle of families in the city of Mataró, near Barcelona, who wanted to participate. Soccer destiny then deemed that her baby boy, who would become a star for Barcelona some 15 years later, was paired up with the Argentine who would become the greatest of all time.
A tearful Messi left Barcelona in 2021 when the club was in financial trouble. Yamal erupted at the club two years later. The journey is now complete, from bathtub to World Cup final, when the 19-year-old Yamal will face a Messi who is 20 years his senior.
Monfort had no recollection of the photos until Yamal’s father posted one on social media during the 2024 European Championship, when a teenage Yamal was enjoying his international breakout and led Spain to the title.
The photo went viral then. But now, with the World Cup final looming, Monfort said, interest in his photos has skyrocketed.
“This has exploded all over the world, and the fact that the final is in the U.S. has given it the extra push,” Monfort said. “And now this has culminated with the final between Messi and Yamal. It is better than any film script.”
Monfort said that he has been bombarded by queries for the photos by professional media outlets, while also seeing his images reproduced countless times on social media and the internet without any credit or compensation.
Like many Barcelona fans, Monfort's loyalty is split. It is common to see children wearing both Yamal’s Barcelona and Spain shirts, as well as any Messi shirt, whether from his Barcelona years or Argentina or his current club, Inter Miami, on the city’s streets.
Monfort, 58, is considering traveling to see the final in New Jersey, but whether he watches it in person or at home, he said he will have trouble cheering for one team or the other.
“My heart is split. I don’t know if I want Messi or Yamal to win,” said Monfort, a lifelong Barcelona supporter.
“I have an everlasting love for the best player of all time (Messi),” he said, but “Yamal has broken the mold here” and represents a new, diverse Spain, thanks to his parents from Morocco and Equatorial Guinea. “Maybe they can both win. I wouldn't rule it out after everything we have seen.”
See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
20-year-old soccer star Lionel Messi cradles Lamine Yamal, who was merely six months old at the time during a photo session in Sept. 2007 in the dressing room of the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
20-year-old soccer star Lionel Messi helps to bathe Lamine Yamal, who was merely six months old at the time, during a photo session in Sept. 2007 in the dressing room of the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
20-year-old soccer star Lionel Messi helps to bathe Lamine Yamal, who was merely six months old at the time with Yamal's mother Sheila Ebana during a photo session in Sept. 2007 in the dressing room of the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chien Le first met the Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara in 2005, a few years before Pannakara became a novice monk at the Texas Buddhist temple where he is now the deputy abbot.
What struck Le then, and amazes him still, is Pannakara’s iron-clad determination.
“When he decides to do something, he goes all the way,” said Le, secretary of the temple — the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth. “He’s never been afraid of obstacles. He always finds a way through them.”
That indomitable will was in full display during the meditative Walk for Peace that Pannakara led earlier this year with an international group of monks and his rescue dog, Aloka, who has become a mascot for the movement. The 2,300-mile (3,700-kilometer) journey started in Fort Worth on Oct. 26 and ended in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 14.
Pannakara’s discourses on mindfulness and kindness in churchyards, town squares and in front of the Lincoln Memorial drew large, diverse crowds. Millions worldwide followed along online.
Within weeks, the Walk for Peace had propelled this obscure monk into the spotlight as a leading voice for inner peace and unity in an increasingly divided nation. His popularity continues to soar, with some drawing comparisons with the Dalai Lama, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the late Thich Nhat Hanh, a revered Zen master and peace activist who shared Pannakara’s Vietnamese roots.
Pannakara, who traveled to Southern California last weekend with Aloka for several speaking engagements, said he doesn’t care for all the attention.
“There is no fame for monks,” he said. “I made a vow to walk to raise awareness of peace, loving kindness and compassion. That’s what it’s about.”
As part of his Theravada Buddhist practice, he follows “Vinaya” — a strict code of monastic rules. That means no social media accounts, personal possessions or handling money, and the practice of celibacy and modesty.
He doesn't eat after noon and, according to Le, sleeps sitting up, which is not mandatory for Theravada monks, but adopted by some as an ascetic practice to deepen mindfulness.
Pannakara was born in Dak Lak, Vietnam, in 1981, the youngest of 10 children. He says his family was Buddhist in “name only.” He immigrated to the U.S. in 1997 and graduated with a degree in information technology from the University of Texas at Arlington. He said his first exposure to Buddhism was in the U.S. through temple summer camps and youth leadership.
Pannakara stepped away from his engineering career to become a novice monk and became fully ordained in 2010 by his teacher, the Venerable Ratanaguna, who he has often cited as his source of inspiration. There was not one life-changing event that prompted his decision, he said, but the cumulative effect of seeing his loved ones suffer and people trying to step on each other to move up.
“To me everything just seemed fake,” he said.
Le recalls that Pannakara’s parents were inconsolable.
“Even on the day he was ordained, his mother came, and she cried a lot,” he said, adding that they eventually accepted it.
Le said Pannakara was a quick learner, completing several projects on their campus including landscaping, a new kitchen, homes for the monastics and a memorial hall for deceased members.
At his teacher’s direction, Pannakara traveled to Myanmar between 2018 and 2020 to study and practice Vipassana meditation, an ancient technique taught by the Buddha himself as core for attaining enlightenment. When COVID hit, he returned to Fort Worth and organized food drives, said Amanda Phan, a temple member.
“(Pannakara) is a rare human being,” she said. “He is an embodiment of kindness, compassion, wisdom — a bodhisattva — a being whose purpose is to relieve others from their suffering.”
In late 2022, Pannakara joined about 100 monks in a 2,100-mile (3,380-kilometer), 112-day pilgrimage tracing the footsteps of the Buddha — from his birthplace in Lumbini, Nepal, to Bodh Gaya where he attained enlightenment; Sarnath, the site of the first sermon; and Kushinagar, where he died. The monks emulated Buddha's journey — walking barefoot, eating one meal a day, and sleeping under the stars.
“I had learned the Buddha’s teachings from the Tipitaka (Buddhist canon),” Pannakara said. “But with this walk, I experienced it.”
He also learned about himself — about his strength to bear adversity and pain.
“I learned that we can do much more than we think we’re capable of,” he said.
That journey also brought Aloka into his life. Aloka means light in Pali.
“Even when he faced challenges and almost died he walked with us,” Pannakara said of his dog.
It was on a previous trip to Bodh Gaya — under the Bodhi tree where the Buddha attained enlightenment — that Pannakara said he had a vision to build stone stupas to preserve the sacred teachings for generations to come. Seven years later, he told Ratanaguna about his desire. With his teacher’s blessing, the plan for the $200-million Dhammacetiya project was born — 840 stupas bearing Buddha’s teachings in 10 languages, built to last 4,000 years.
Pannakara knelt before an assembly of monastics and visitors during the temple’s 2022 International Vesak Ceremony and vowed that if he is unable to complete the project in this lifetime, he would “be reborn to continue this project until its completion.” This project and the peace walks — which he plans to do more of — together uphold his vow to promote peace and preserve the Buddha’s teachings, he said.
Ajahn Nisabho, a Seattle-based Theravada Buddhist monk, said he was moved by Pannakara's authenticity and commitment.
“The story of his quilted robe that he stitched it together from pieces of cloth he picked up during the walk in India — he was honoring that past and that ethos,” Nisabho said. “As a fellow monk, it was inspiring for me to see floods of people walking behind him during the peace walk.”
Bhikkhu Bodhi, a senior Theravada monk who spoke at the conclusion of the Walk for Peace in Washington, said Pannakara was wise to remain silent on politics during his walk. But Bodhi, 81, hopes he does speak up on critical social issues like poverty, hunger, housing and the climate.
“I just hope that as (Pannakara) becomes more established and gets accustomed to publicity, he’ll consider taking a stand on these issues that have deep moral and spiritual significance,” he said.
Nisabho believes Pannakara made the right decision to steer clear of politics and activism. He said there are not many spaces today that are able to welcome the kind of diversity the peace walk attracted — with the exception of Dolly Parton “who brings truckers and drag queens together.”
“The vision of a monastic is the one chance someone has, to be inspired toward awakening and find an escape from suffering,” Nisabho said. “If you bring politics into that, you cause damage by alienating half the country.”
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., and his dog, Aloka, are greeted by well-wishers during an event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., receives flowers from well-wishers during an event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., poses for a portrait in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
An attendee holds a framed painting depicting Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., and his dog, Aloka, during an event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A woman bows as she greets Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led the 2,300-mile Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., and his dog, Aloka, at an event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., pets his dog, Aloka, while waiting for an event to start in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., and his dog, Aloka, walk to Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Buddhist monks take pictures of Aloka before an event with Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, bottom center, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., hands out postcards and signs autographs for attendees at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., sits with his dog, Aloka, before an event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, third from right, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., poses for a group photo as his dog, Aloka, rests nearby in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Attendees hold flowers while waiting to greet Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., during an event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., and fellow monks take group pictures at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026.(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, foreground right, a Buddhist monk who led a Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., carries flowers as he pays his respects at a monument during an event at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
