BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Lionel Messi has already secured his place as one of the greatest soccer players of all time with Argentina’s World Cup win over France. Now he’s breaking records on social media, too.
The Argentina star’s celebration post on Instagram is now the most-liked post of all time, according to Instagram. It has also surpassed the number of likes on a single post on all other social media apps, including TikTok and YouTube.
As of Tuesday, the post, featuring Messi holding up the trophy along with a carousel of other photos his teammates celebrating, had nearly 66 million likes. In the caption, Messi thanks his family and the fans for support.
The social media network also said #Messi and #Argentina were the top trending hashtags globally on the app after Argentina’s World Cup win.
Messi’s post takes over the top spot from @world_record_egg, which became a meme in 2019 when the anonymous account asked for likes to take over the title of most liked photo on Instagram from Kylie Jenner.
At 35, Messi has likely played in his last World Cup, but the all-star indicated he intends to continue playing for at least a little while longer.
“I love soccer, what I do. I enjoy being part of the national team, the group. I want to enjoy a couple of more matches being a world champion,” he said.
Messi was his country’s inspiration throughout the World Cup tournament in Qatar and scored twice in the championship game against France.
Messi has won the Ballon d’Or award for the best player in the world on seven occasions. He has also won the Champions League four times with former club Barcelona, but the World Cup is the biggest prize in the sport.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.