UPDATE (12/20): This story has been updated to reflect Messi’s post passing the all-time record.
Lionel Messi’s maiden World Cup win has elevated him in discussions about the greatest soccer players of all time. It also gave him the chance to prove he’s still one of the greatest ever on social media.
Messi’s Instagram post celebrating Argentina’s penalty kicks victory over France in Sunday’s epic final has been liked over 62 million times as of Tuesday morning — the most-liked post on the platform all time.
Messi’s post has finally surpassed a picture of an egg that had garnered over 56 million likes after being posted in January 2019.
Two of Messi’s latest posts — a photo with the World Cup trophy on the plane ride back to Argentina and a photo of him sleeping with the trophy — have garnered 36 million (4th all-time) and 32 million likes (7th all-time), respectively.
Just one month ago, at the beginning of the World Cup in Qatar, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo teamed up for what was then the second-most-liked post.
That photo — from Ronaldo’s account — has been bumped down to third on the all-time list, while Messi’s corresponding post ranks sixth.
Ronaldo also made waves during the tournament: His post following Portugal’s elimination has over 31 million likes — good for eighth-most all-time.
Messi now has seven of the top 20 most-liked posts in Instagram’s history; Ronaldo has three.
