Instagram’s history of viral obsession has produced some unlikely winners, and the platform’s all-time most-liked list proves engagement rarely follows logic.
Sitting at the top is Lionel Messi’s 2022 World Cup celebration, which has racked up 75 million likes and remains the most-liked post across all of social media, let alone Instagram.
Behind it sits one of the internet’s strangest triumphs: a plain photograph of an egg, posted with no context beyond a challenge to break records, which pulled in 60.4 million likes and briefly dethroned Kylie Jenner as the platform’s reigning champion.
🚨 Most liked posts in Instagram history:
1. Messi World Cup Win: 𝟳𝟱𝗠🥇
2. An Egg: 𝟲𝟬.𝟰𝗠
3. Messi in bed with trophy: 𝟱𝟯.𝟳𝗠
4. Kishore Mondal Singing Reel: 𝟱𝟭.𝟴𝗠
5. Insta360 Toddler Reel: 𝟰𝟴.𝟭𝗠
6. Messi & Ronaldo chess ad: 𝟰𝟭.𝟯𝗠
7. Messi on Plane with… pic.twitter.com/II9Rq1NlHf— MessiXtra (@MessiXtraHQ) July 30, 2026
Messi dominates the rest of the leaderboard too. His photo sleeping beside the World Cup trophy sits third with 53.7 million likes, while a separate shot of him aboard a plane with the same trophy adds another 41.2 million.
Even a staged chess advert featuring Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo together managed 41.3 million.
Elsewhere, the list turns unpredictable. Viral singing reels from Kishore Mondal and Emil Reinert both crack the top ten, as does a toddler’s-eye-view clip filmed on an Insta360 camera.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement announcement rounds out the mix, a reminder that football, chance, and pop culture all compete for the same algorithm’s attention.
Photo: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
