68 million and counting: Messi’s World Cup picture is Instagram's most-liked post ever

The record was previously held by a picture of Messi and Christiano Ronaldo playing chess for a clothing label

The final of the FIFA World Cup 2022 will go down in history as one of the most thrilling matches of all time. It not only concluded with Argentina winning for the third time but also finally crowned Lionel Messi lifting the coveted trophy — the only title that was missing from his rich sports career.

As Messi celebrates and sleeps (literally) with his golden trophy, the world could not be happier for him. His Instagram photo dump of the glorious winning moments from the final broke all previous records and became the most-liked photo on social media by a sportsperson with 68 million likes and counting. The comment section is also full of people cheering him for being the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time).

Messi's post includes a series of photographs of him and his teammates, rejoicing in the historic moment at Qatar's Lusail Stadium on Sunday. “Champions of the world!” he captioned the post with a heartfelt note of gratitude for all those who supported him in his journey.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Leo Messi (@leomessi)

It also triumphed the previous record held by a post with both Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo framed together; featuring the footballing greats engrossed in a game of chess. The post was run as an advertisement campaign by a clothing label.

The 35-year-old football drove Argentina's superb run in Qatar by scoring two goals in the finals, as his team defeated France 4-2 on penalties. Messi's journey to glory, however, was not an easy one as Argentina kicked off the World Cup with a 1-2 defeat against minnows Saudi Arabia.

However, the defeat didn’t stop them. Messi finished the World Cup with seven goals, one behind the tournament's top scorer Kylian Mbappe, and three assists. He was also honoured with the Golden Ball for his breathtaking show.

Messi headed into the tournament, hinting this could be the last time we could see him at football's grandest stage but seemed like taking a U-turn after the successful campaign. Meanwhile, this was Argentina's third World Cup title, having won the tournament back in 1978 and 1986.