Lionel Messi has claimed another world record after his World Cup victory for Argentina on Sunday. The Paris Saint-Germain star added the final piece to his trophy collection by winning the most prestigious prize in football, 16 years after his debut in the competition.
The 35-year-old scored twice on the night and converted his penalty in the decisive shootout to be crowned world champion for the first time. He came close in 2014 and finished as runner up in Brazil, losing to Germany in the final but managed to go one step further in Qatar.
In what is already widely regarded as the best final ever, Messi starred for Lionel Scaloni's men and also took an extra step to securing his name in the history books forever. Many took the chance after the win to declare Messi as the Great Of All Time (GOAT), with this trophy simply topping off an already incredible career.
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He has been compared for years to club and international rival Cristiano Ronaldo, with the pair competitng for numerous individual acolades including La Liga top scorer, Champions League all-time top scorer, Ballon d'Or winner and international goals.
Fans had used Messi's lack of international trophies to put Ronaldo ahead of him in the debate, with the Portugal forward winning Euro 2016 for his country, but Messi finally hit back last year by winning Copa America. He had previously announced his retirement from international football after final heartbreak three times before.
Now, Messi has given his adoring fans worldwide the happiest of endings as his international career looks set to come to a close, with the forward announcing this was his last World Cup, even if Scaloni has already made room for him in 2026 if he wants it.
In a more trivial record, Messi has just earned himself another world record for likes on an Instagram post. His pictures from the final have already amassed over 56million likes, overtaking the previous most, world record egg - an image of an egg with 55.9million likes posted in 2019.
It went beyond Ronaldo's famous image of him and Messi sitting at a chessboard from earlier this year in collaboration with Louis Vuitton. It doesn't appear that Ronaldo himself has liked the picture.
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