Lionel Messi’s World Cup winning photo becomes the most popular Instagram picture of all time with 56.1 million “likes” – overtaking “the egg” at the top
- Lionel Messi’s ‘World Champion’ post is the most popular Instagram post of all time
- It broke the previous record of 56.1 million likes set by a picture of an egg
- Argentina star Messi posted a series of pictures after Sunday’s World Cup win
- He thanks his family and those who have supported him on his journey in football
- Chris Godfrey’s 2019 post of an egg aimed to garner the most likes
Lionel Messi’s post of the Argentine world champion has become the most popular image in Instagram history – overtaking a picture of an egg.
That post garnered 56.1 million likes, but Messi’s picture of him lifting the World Cup after Argentina’s win over France in Sunday’s World Cup final has now zoomed past it.
Following Argentina’s thrilling penalty shootout win over France, the PSG star posted ten photos of the celebrations in Qatar on Instagram.
Lionel Messi’s picture of him lifting the World Cup trophy has become the most popular Instagram picture of all time – overtaking a picture of an egg
In the time since he uploaded it, Messi’s post has garnered a staggering 56 million likes, with the striker also surpassing 402 million followers on the social media platform.
Messi accompanied the post with a caption that read: “WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!!! I’ve dreamed it so many times, I wanted it so badly that I still haven’t fallen, I can’t believe it……
“Thank you to my family, to everyone who supports me and also to everyone who believed in us. We’re showing once again that if we fight together and as one, the Argentines are capable of achieving what we set out to do.
“The merit belongs to this group that is above individualities, it is the strength that all fight for the same dream”.
Messi’s Instagram profile also saw him eclipse 400 million followers on the social media site
Messi’s post surpassed the number of likes Cristiano Ronaldo’s upload received in the last month
It surpassed Ronaldo’s post from last month – a pre-World Cup Louis Vuitton ad that starred the Portuguese star and Messi playing chess, which had garnered 41.9million likes.
However, Ronaldo is still the most followed person on Instagram, with a staggering 519 million.
Last month, he became the first person ever to reach 500 million followers on the social media site.
The Portuguese star leads in terms of following, with Messi in second place by a significant margin – the two are the only athletes in the top 10.
Kylie Jenner, Selena Gomez, Dwayne Johnson, Ariana Grande, Kim Kardashian, Beyonce, Khloe Kardashian and Justin Bieber complete the top 10.
Messi celebrated after helping Argentina win the World Cup final on Sunday
The record for “likes” was previously held by Chris Godfrey, who uploaded a photo of an egg in January 2019.
The photo ended up garnering 56.1 million likes, aiming to surpass the most popular Instagram post at the time, a picture of Kylie Jenner’s daughter, which had 18.6 million likes.
Ronaldo received 32.6 million likes for announcing that his partner Georgina Rodriguez was pregnant in October 2021, while Messi’s post of his ad featuring Ronaldo received 32.2 million likes.
Messi made a huge impact in the final in Qatar as he scored two goals while also converting his penalty in a shootout.
Lionel Messi and his teammates Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Lautaro Martinez and Julian Alvarez celebrate on the open-top bus in Buenos Aires on Tuesday
Fans lined the streets in the dead of night to catch a glimpse of the victorious Argentina soccer team as they cruised through Buenos Aires in an open-top bus
Completing a fairytale final World Cup for the 35-year-old Paris Saint-Germain star, who won the one medal missing from his collection.
Messi and his team-mates flew back to Argentina from Qatar on Monday, where they celebrated their World Cup victory in Buenos Aires to thousands of cheering fans.