Another feather was added to Lionel Messi's cap after his World Cup winning photograph became the most liked picture in the history of Instagram, surpassing the likes scored by the photo of an egg. Also, the photo posted by Messi has more likes than Christiano Ronaldo's famous photo of the two greats playing chess.
CR7's photo of the two legends playing chess was long the most popular post ever made by a sportsperson on Instagram. The post of the egg received 56.1 million likes but Messi's photo of him hoisting the World Cup after Argentina defeated France in the World Cup final on Sunday has now surpassed it.
Instagram's New Ruler
Messi uploaded 10 photos to Instagram documenting the celebrations in Qatar following Argentina's stunning penalty shootout win over France. Messi's post has so far received an astounding 63.2 million likes since he posted it and is still counting.
Messi added the caption, " WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!!!! I dreamed it so many times, I wanted it so much that I still haven't fallen, I can't believe it......
"Thank you very much to my family, to all who support me and also to all who believed in us. We demonstrate once again that Argentines when we fight together and united we are capable of achieving what we set out to do.
"The merit belongs to this group, which is above individualities, it is the strength of all fighting for the same dream."
Messi's photo has surpassed Ronaldo's post from last month, which garnered 41.9 million likes and featured the Portuguese star and Messi playing chess in a Louis Vuitton World Cup advertisement.
However, with a stunning 519 million followers, Ronaldo continues to hold the title of the most-followed person on Instagram. Ronaldo crossed 500 million followers on the social networking platform for the first time ever in November.
Messi, 35, trails the Portuguese star by a wide margin in terms of followers, and the two athletes are the only ones in the top 10.
Chris Godfrey previously held the record for "likes," after uploading a photo of an egg in January 2019.
The photo of the egg broke the record earlier set by a picture of Kylie Jenner's daughter, which garnered 18.6 million likes. The photo of the egg ultimately went on to receive 56.1 million likes.
Messi on Top of The World
Messi provided a fitting climax to the World Cup, leading Argentina to victory against France in the championship match. He went on to score two goals before Kylian Mbappe, the PSG team's new star, scored twice to push the game into extra time and then once again to enter a thrilling penalty shootout.
This solidified Messi's position as the greatest player of all time.
On Monday, Messi and his teammates flew back from Qatar to Argentina, where they celebrated their World Cup victory in front of tens of thousands of ecstatic supporters. Talisman Messi and head coach Lionel Scaloni were the first to exit the aircraft, and they joyously raised the World Cup trophy into the air as they greeted the eager spectators.
The PSG player, who was wearing his medal around his neck, could not help but beam as he took in the reunion.
The players stepped off the plane and immediately boarded an open-top bus that was waiting for them on the tarmac to take them to the headquarters of the Argentine Football Association.
However, shortly after arrival, Messi and his teammates nearly fell off the rear of their open-top bus. Videos show Messi and four of his teammates, including Leandro Paredes and Angel Di Maria, forced to swerve around an overhanging power cord as they made their way slowly through a mass of delighted Argentine fans.
The streets of the Argentinian capital have been overrun with ecstatic spectators for the open-top bus procession, which is expected to last for almost eight hours. It will include famous monuments like the Obelisk, where most eager Argentinian fans have gathered.
