The Peninsula
A few days after lifting the World Cup trophy at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, Lionel Messi has made history once again, with the mercurial Argentine captain's World Cup post becoming the most liked picture in the history of Instagram, overtaking an image of an egg uploaded by Chris Godfrey in January 2019.
As of Tuesday evening, Messi's image of him lifting the World Cup aloft after Argentina beat France in Sunday's World Cup final has now surpassed 62 million likes easily, surpassing the previous record holder, Godfrey's photo of an egg.
In the aftermath of Argentina's thrilling penalty shootout win over France, the PSG star took to Instagram to post 10 pictures of the celebrations in Qatar.
Within the 72 hours since he uploaded it, Messi's post has racked up a staggering 63 million likes, with the forward also surpassing 403 million followers on the social media platform.
"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 are united, 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," the 35-year-old Argentine captain said in the post.
Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of ecstatic Argentines flooded the streets of Buenos Aires on Tuesday to cheer the country's World Cup-winning football team, led by Messi, after their plane landed in the early hours of the morning.