The Argentina forward broke new ground on social media

Lionel Messi has again pipped Cristiano Ronaldo with another feat achieved at the turn of the week.

After Messi led Argentina to their first World Cup success in 36 years with victory over France in Sunday’s final in Qatar, many football fans felt that the star number 10 had closed the debate on who the greatest player of the modern age is – if not all time.

While this is a matter of opinion, facts and records are much harder to dispute.

On Monday, Messi broke another by boasting the all-time most-liked Instagram post by an athlete.

A few hours after completing his trophy cabinet with the only piece of major silverware that had eluded him until now, Messi uploaded a collection of 10 photos with the shot of himself with the World Cup aloft at the Lusail Stadium leading the pack.

In just 18 hours, the post surpassed 48 million likes and therefore overtook the photo Ronaldo posted of himself and Messi playing chess in November as part of a marketing campaign for Louis Vuitton, which had just short of 42 million likes.

“WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!,” Messi wrote in the caption of his record-breaking post.

“I dreamed it so many times, I wanted it so much that the penny still hasn’t dropped, I can’t believe it……

“Thank you very much to my family, to all who support me and also to all [of those] who believed in us. We demonstrated once again that Argentines, when we fight together and are united, are capable of achieving what we set out to do. 

“The merit belongs to this group, which is above individualities. It is the strength of all fighting for the same dream, that was also the dream of all Argentines… We did it!!!,” he concluded, before writing “Come on Argentina, f*ck!!!!!”