Lionel Messi's World Cup Post Breaks Instagram Record

Football superstar Lionel Messi took home more than one prize this weekend after Argentina won the FIFA the World Cup.

Credit: Reuters

According to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Messi's World Cup post, which shows him celebrating with his teammates and carrying the trophy that has long eluded his career, is now the most-liked post on Instagram, with more than 67 million likes, as of writing.

The previous record holder was a stock photo of an egg on a white background, with the caption, "Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram.” It took the top spot in 2019, amassing over 57 million likes to beat a post from Kylie Jenner that racked up about 19 million likes.

The Verge adds that Messi's Instagram posts are among the most liked on the photo and video sharing platform, holding eight of the top 20 spots. The Paris Saint-Germain forward is also the second most-followed person there, with 405 million followers. Apart from Instagram's own account, which has the most followers overall, only Cristiano Ronaldo has more followers than Messi, with a whopping 520 million followers.

Zuckerberg also said that WhatsApp reached a record 25 million messages per second during the finals match between Argentina and France.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, meanwhile, said Search recorded the highest traffic in its 25-year history. “It was like the entire world was searching about one thing,” he tweeted.

The tech giant updated Search ahead of the World Cup to make it easier for users to keep up with the tournament. For instance, when users search “World Cup,” they’ll see a dedicated section that shows upcoming matches, including local dates and times, the latest news, statistics and team standings. They can also set up notifications on mobile to follow their favourite teams, so they’ll never miss any of the action.

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• Lionel Messi's World Cup post, which shows him celebrating him celebrating his finals win against France with his teammates, is now the most-liked post on Instagram, with more than 67 million likes, as of writing.

• The football superstar's Instagram posts are among the most liked on the photo and video sharing platform, holding eight of the top 20 spots.

• WhatsApp reached a record 25 million messages per second during the finals match, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.