Most Liked Instagram Post – Messi’s World Cup Record Tops All

Lionel Messi’s celebration of Argentina’s 2022 FIFA World Cup victory stands as the most liked Instagram post in history, accumulating 74.7 million likes since its publication on December 18, 2022. The image, showing Messi lifting the trophy after defeating France, surpassed the previous record held by a simple photograph of an egg that had dominated the platform for nearly four years.

The landscape of Instagram’s most engaged-with content reveals a clear pattern: athletic achievement, particularly football milestones, generates unprecedented interaction rates. While viral challenges occasionally capture global attention, sustained record-breaking engagement consistently clusters around major sporting events and the careers of global icons like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

What is the most liked Instagram post?

The current top post achieved 10 million likes within 39 minutes of publication, illustrating the velocity at which global audiences interact with historic moments.

• Football dominance: Messi and Ronaldo collectively account for 11 of the top 20 most-liked posts as of April 2026.
• Speed record: Messi’s World Cup post reached 10 million likes in just 39 minutes.
• Previous era: The egg photograph held the all-time record from January 2019 until December 2022.
• Narrative sequels: Messi posted follow-up images (airplane, bed with trophy) that also ranked in the top 20, demonstrating sustained audience engagement.
• Verification gaps: No comprehensive top 50 list has been verified in available research.
• Platform dynamics: World Cup-related content generated multiple record-breaking posts within a one-week period in December 2022.

Top 10 most liked posts on Instagram

The upper tier of Instagram engagement is populated primarily by athletes, with footballers commanding significant positions. The intensity of football rivalries translates into massive social media interactions when historic moments occur.

Global sports milestones

World Cup victories and career transfers generate immediate global responses. Messi’s December 2022 posts following Argentina’s triumph occupied multiple top positions simultaneously, while Ronaldo’s transfer announcements and international tournament reactions consistently placed him in the highest engagement tier.

Viral phenomena versus sustained stardom

While the World Record Egg represented a viral challenge designed specifically to amass likes, most top posts derive from established celebrity platforms. The egg’s success demonstrated the platform’s capacity for grassroots viral campaigns, though athletic achievements ultimately proved more durable for sustained record holding.

Lionel Messi’s most liked Instagram post

Messi’s primary record-holding post captures the immediate aftermath of Argentina’s penalty shootout victory over France in the 2022 World Cup final. Published at December 18, 2022, the image accumulated 50 million likes within the first 24 hours, shattering the previous 24-hour record.

The World Cup celebration sequence

The original post was followed by a series of images that maintained narrative continuity. A photograph posted the following day showing Messi asleep beside the trophy on an airplane garnered 41.0 million likes, while another showing him in bed with the trophy reached 53.5 million. This strategy of sequential posting allowed Messi to occupy three top-tier positions simultaneously.

Ronaldo’s parallel records

Cristiano Ronaldo maintains significant presence in the top rankings, including a post announcing his move to Al Nassr which garnered 33.1 million likes. His post following Portugal’s World Cup elimination reached 32.9 million, demonstrating that even moments of defeat generate massive engagement for global sports figures.

The Egg: Instagram’s most liked post challenge

Before Messi’s World Cup triumph, the platform’s most-liked content was a stock photograph of an egg posted by Chris Godfrey under the handle @world_record_egg on January 4, 2019. The image, accessible via direct link, eventually accumulated 60.3 million likes, surpassing previous records held by celebrity posts.

Origin and viral mechanism

The egg post emerged as a deliberate challenge to established Instagram hierarchies, specifically targeting the previous record held by a celebrity. The simplicity of the content—a brown egg against a white background—contrasted sharply with the produced imagery typically associated with high-engagement posts, demonstrating the platform’s susceptibility to collective user campaigns.

Current status

While no longer the record holder, the egg post continues to accumulate engagement and stands as a historical marker of Instagram’s viral culture. It remains the only non-celebrity, non-athletic post to occupy a top-tier position, aside from promotional content.

Timeline of record-breaking Instagram posts

1. January 4, 2019: Chris Godfrey posts the World Record Egg, eventually reaching 60.3 million likes and establishing a new benchmark.
2. October 28, 2021: Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce their pregnancy, garnering 31.5 million likes.
3. November 19, 2022: Louis Vuitton publishes the Messi vs. Ronaldo chess photograph, accumulating 31.8 million likes.
4. December 11, 2022: Ronaldo posts following Portugal’s World Cup elimination, reaching 32.9 million likes.
5. December 18, 2022: Messi publishes the World Cup victory post, hitting 10 million likes in 39 minutes and 50 million within 24 hours.
6. December 19, 2022: Messi posts the airplane photograph with the trophy, reaching 41.0 million likes.
7. December 20, 2022: The bed photograph with the trophy garners 53.5 million likes.
8. December 21, 2022: Messi’s celebration post in Argentina reaches 33.5 million likes.
9. December 30, 2022: Ronaldo announces his move to Al Nassr FC, generating 33.1 million likes.
10. December 24, 2024: Ronaldo posts an image from Lapland, Finland, reaching 35.4 million likes.

Current record status: what is verified and what remains unclear

While specific records regarding Instagram’s most-liked posts are well-documented, certain data points remain unverified or inaccessible in public sources. Brandwatch and similar analytics firms track these metrics, though specific 2025 insights could not be independently verified.

Why football moments dominate Instagram records

The concentration of record-breaking posts around football content reflects the sport’s unparalleled global reach. World Cup tournaments attract billions of viewers across diverse demographics, creating synchronized moments of global attention that translate directly into social media engagement. When Messi secured Argentina’s victory in 2022, he tapped into a pre-existing global audience that spans multiple continents and age groups.

Additionally, the emotional weight of athletic achievement—particularly career-culminating victories—generates sharing behaviors that differ from typical celebrity content. Fans engage not merely with the image but with the historical significance it represents, treating the like function as a form of communal participation in a documented cultural moment.

The algorithmic implications of such moments create amplification loops. Rapid initial engagement triggers platform-wide distribution, exposing the content to casual users beyond the athlete’s core follower base, thereby accelerating like accumulation beyond the rates achievable by standard celebrity content.

Sources and verification

Primary data regarding Instagram like records derives from Wikipedia’s continuously updated list of most-liked posts and supplementary analysis from social media research firms. Wikipedia’s aggregation cites platform data and media reports to maintain current rankings.

Lionel Messi’s December 18, 2022, Instagram post celebrating Argentina’s 2022 FIFA World Cup victory holds the record as the most-liked post ever with 74.7 million likes, surpassing the previous record set by the @world_record_egg post.

— Wikipedia, List of most-liked Instagram posts

Messi’s posts often sequel prior viral ones (e.g., airplane and bed trophy photos following the celebration), amplifying engagement through narrative continuity.

— Influize analysis

Summary of Instagram like records

Lionel Messi’s World Cup celebration maintains its position as the most liked Instagram post with 74.7 million engagements, followed by the World Record Egg at 60.3 million. The platform’s top tier is dominated by football content, with Messi and Ronaldo collectively holding the majority of top 20 positions. While comprehensive data beyond these rankings remains limited, the established records demonstrate that global sporting events generate the highest levels of user engagement. For additional context on high-stakes football match statistics, see Man City vs Real Madrid stats.