Romain Rouillard 5:44 p.m., December 19, 2022, modified at 6:00 p.m., December 19, 2022

Argentinian star Lionel Messi posted a photo on his Instagram account where we see him brandishing the Football World Cup, won by the Albiceleste on Sunday at the expense of the France team (3-3 / 4-2 on tab) .

A post that has become, in the space of a few hours, the most "liked" in history for an athlete.

Lionel Messi stacks records on the lawns, but also on social networks.

A few hours after Argentina's success in the 2022 World Cup final against France (3-3 / 4-2 on pens), the Albiceleste star posted on Instagram a photo of him proudly waving the most coveted trophies.

In less than a day, the snapshot was liked by more than 45 million people, making it the most liked post in the history of the network for a top athlete. 

See this post on Instagram

A post shared by Leo Messi (@leomessi)

The photo of Messi is accompanied by a short text in which he expresses his joy at having won the grail he was looking for at the age of 35.

"World Champions!!!! Thank you very much to my family, to all those who support me and also to all those who believed in us. We prove once again that the Argentines, when we fight together, are capable of get what we want (…) We did it,” he wrote. 

Messi, a regular in successful photos

The previous record was established by a photo, posted on the account of the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, where we see the latter playing a game of chess with... Lionel Messi on a Louis Vuitton trunk, as part of a brand advertising.

A post liked by "only" 41.9 million Internet users. 

See this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano)

A year ago, Lionel Messi had already dynamited the network by publishing a photo of him, accompanied by the Copa America trophy, won by Argentina in July 2021. It was, at the time, the first title major gleaned by the PSG striker in the Argentinian jersey.

The snapshot had received nearly 21.8 million likes.

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Figures that make you dizzy, but which are still quite far from the absolute record recorded by Instagram.

To date, the most-liked post in history is a simple egg on a white background with 55.9 million likes.