From Leo Messi’s historic World Cup win to happy announcements for Cristiano and for Ariana, these are the most-liked Instagram posts that captured our “hearts” — on the app, at least.
Yes, Instagram — the app that, despite our better judgment, we just can’t seem to put down. And with the app that we can’t put down, there’s the celebrities we can’t stop following, and ultimately, the posts we like, and scroll, and like, and scroll, and like some more. It’s a vicious cycle — but one that shows no signs of stopping any time soon.
On the plus side, the photos below, those that have earned more of our “likes” than any others — are mostly things worth celebrating. Happy moments, like pregnancy announcements. Wedding pictures. Dyed hair reveals. Honestly, the only big difference between this group of photos and your friend’s photos are a few professional photographers, and, of course, millions and millions of dollars. There’s also a stock photo of an egg. So, let’s get into it, shall we? We shall.
The 10 Most-Liked Instagram Posts of All Time
1.) @leomessi lifting the FIFA World Cup 2022 trophy
67.2 million likes
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Argentina’s hero, Lionel Messi, led the national team to a memorable victory is a fierce final match again France on December 18th in Doha. He shared an emotional and inspiring post upon lifting the trophy for his country. We won’t be surprised if this post is the one to beat the egg soon!
2.)@world_record_egg’s self-portrait
57.5 million likes
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Many, many moons ago — 2019 — Kylie Jenner and her baby Stormi had the most-liked photo (18 million) on Instagram, which inspired an advertising exec to see if an egg, this egg above, could get more likes. It worked. And it was working till December 20, 2022, when Messi dethroned this world famous self portrait.
3.) @leomessi in bed with his FIFA World Cup 2022 tropy
44.2 million likes
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There’s no stopping this man – his latest upload, shots of him snuggling up in bed with his coveted gold, gathered ~45 million likes in under 15 hours. At this stage, whether you’re a football fan or not, you’ve got to be following La Pulga.
4.) @cristiano for Louis Vuitton
42.1 million likes
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The latest entrant to the top liked Instagram posts is a common upload featuring football greats Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi playing a game of chess, sponsored by fashion giant Louis Vuitton – the posts racked up these likes in under 24 hours!
5.) @leomessi’s post with the ultimate trophy
35.4 million likes
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This post needs no caption (literally)! With this latest upload, the G.O.A.T now has four of the 10 most liked posts on Instagram in the world currently. Now that’s another record for the books.
6.) @cristiano and @georginagio’s pregnancy announcement
32.6 million likes
The most-followed person on Instagram comes in second to the app itself — and he’ll again have to settle for silver when it comes to the platform’s second most-liked post: the egg still has a solid 23 million on him. But we’re sure CR7 doesn’t mind — this happy post from October 2021 is a celebration alongside Georgina Rodriguez, announcing pregnancy and twins with the football star.
7.) @LeoMessi for Louis Vuitton
32.4 million likes
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The latest entrant to the top liked Instagram posts is a common upload featuring football greats Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi playing a game of chess, sponsored by fashion giant Louis Vuitton.
8.) @cristiano’s final FIFA World Cup 2022 post
31.6 million likes
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Cristiano Ronaldo had millions cheering him on during the World Cup 2022, reportedy his last outing for Portugal. But when they were ousted from making it to the finals, his fans rallied on social media, especially Instagram, as the world watched one of the greatest footballers of our time miss out on the final opporunity to bring home the ultimate trophy. Nevertheless, he’s still an icon for this generation!
9.) @xxxtentacion’s final post
30.4 million likes
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Rapper XXXTentacion, commonly known as “X”, is no longer with us, but he lives on through this, the final post on his Instagram account, simply reading: “LOVE IS WAR.”
10.) @leomessi’s win against Croatia in the FIFA World Cup 2022 semi finals
29 million likes
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Football fans the world over were glued to their screens as Argentina knocked out Croatia 3-0 to make it to the FIFA World 2022 finals, a historic moment for Messi and the team as the country last won the World Cup trophy in 1986 – clearly this was a long time coming.
Hero and Featured Images: Courtesy cristiano/Instagram
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Nathan Erickson
Editor-in-Chief
Born in Seoul and based in Hong Kong, Nathan has been writing about culture, style and food for some of the world's biggest publications for over a decade. He likes Canon lenses and the films of Chow Yun Fat.
