The Most Liked Pictures on Instagram

The most liked post on Instagram—what an accolade! You might think you need to be a mega-celebrity or world class photographer to achieve such heady heights. However, the surprise waiting for you at No.1 on this list, proves these assumptions false. It might, however, help to be a Grammy award winning singer or a top footballer to drive up those likes, as evidenced by the rest of this list of the most liked Instagram posts ever.

So, here goes, the list of most like Instagram posts:

20. Cristiano Ronaldo: 19 million likes

 

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A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano)

Cristiano Ronaldo’s first entry on this list of the most liked Instagram posts starts with a post marking his return to Manchester United in the Summer 2021. Eleven years on from his departure to Real Madrid, the post reeked of nostalgia and accumulated plenty of likes to show for it.

19. Khaby Lame: 19 million likes

 

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Despite initially achieving success on TikTok, Italian creator Khaby Lame has achieved the 19th most liked Instagram post with one of his famous “keep it simple” videos. In this video he mocks a complicated ‘life hack’ video in his typical comedic style.

18. Chadwick Boseman: 19.3 million likes

 

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At 19 on the list of the most liked Instagram posts, is a post by Chadwick Boseman’s family on his account, announcing his tragic death from cancer. The Black Panther actor passed away in 2020 after inspiring millions – the like counter on this post reflects this impact.

13. Cristiano Ronaldo: 19.3 million likes

 

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A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano)

Cristiano Ronaldo’s second entry on this list is a carousel of pictures from his second Manchester United debut from September 2021. His celebrated and unexpected return to Old Trafford drew a lot of attention and fanfare. Scoring a goal on that second debut drew a lot of Instagram likes.

16. Billie Eilish: 19.3 million likes

 

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Billie Eilish’s first entry on the most liked Instagram posts list features her at the 2021 Met Gala. Dressed by Oscar De La Renta. The post’s caption was a call to action for other designers to go fur-free. A cause Eilish feels strongly about.

15. Cristiano Ronaldo: 19.5 million likes

 

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At risk of becoming a broken record, Cristiano Ronaldo has another entry at number 15. This time however, his son, Cristiano Jr takes front and centre. Cristiano Jr, who’s at Manchester United’s Academy is seen training with his father at the United training ground.

14. Cristiano Ronaldo: 19.7 million likes

 

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Guess who? Diego Maradona passed away in late 2020—a player many consider the greatest and who inspired many was paid tribute to by Cristiano Ronaldo in the first non-English post to feature on this list.

13. Mermaid Montana: 20.1 million likes

 

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Mermaid Montana is the first non-celebrity to appear on the list of most liked Instagram posts. The success of this post is testament to the popularity of heart-warming, good-vibes content on Instagram. It depicts a small girl being photographed with and surprised by a mermaid-actress in a pool behind her. The heart-warming tone of this video drove the attention and likes.

12. Tom Holland: 20.2 million likes

 

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Spiderman actor Tom Holland’s birthday post to co-star and girlfriend Zendaya takes 12th spot. The post shows him in his Spiderman costume and the caption calls Zendaya “MJ” (her Spiderman character), no doubt activating the large Marvel fanbase.

11. Lionel Messi: 21.2 million likes

 

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Lionel Messi’s first of three entries on this list is his post announcing his departure from Barcelona at a press conference. Announcing that he was leaving the club he’d been at for 21 years sent the football-world mad and drew in plenty of likes as a result.

10. Kylie Jenner: 21.6 million likes

Kylie Jenner enters this list at number 10 and is the only representative of Instagram’s most popular family (the Kardashians) on it. This post is the most recent of all the posts on this list. It shows Stormi (Kylie’s first child) holding the hand of her new born brother, Wolf.

9. Lionel Messi: 21.9 million likes

 

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Lionel Messi’s second entry on this list shows him holding the Copa America trophy which he won captaining the Argentina national side.

8. Billie Eilish: 22 million likes

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Billie Eilish’s second feature on this list is a post showing herself kitted out in Mugler and Burberry for a Vogue photoshoot.   

7. Lionel Messi: 22.1 million likes

 

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Lionel Messi’s last entry on this list of the most liked Instagram posts is also the last non-English captioned post. It’s a post announcing his signing for Paris Saint Germain, his new club after leaving Barcelona last summer.

6. Billie Eilish: 22.9 million likes

 

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Billie Eilish’s last entry on this list is her revealing that she dyed her hair blonde.

5. Kylie Jenner: 24.9 million likes

Kylie Jenner’s second and final entry on this list is a video that ended months of online speculation. It shows her revealing that she’s pregnant with her second child with hip hop star Travis Scott.

4. Ariana Grande: 26.6 million likes

 

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Popstar Ariana Grande married Dalton Gomez in May 2021 and some photos from their wedding puts her at four on this list.

3. XXXTentacion: 28.4 million likes

 

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XXXTentacion was a rapper who tragically died aged 20 in May 2018. His final post before he died was an upside-down portrait on a brown background, captioned ‘Love is war’. The response in the hip hop community to his death was great and this is reflected in the number of people who liked his final post. Coincidentally, this post also has the second most comments on Instagram at 11 million, mainly people paying tribute to him.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo: 32.7 million likes

 

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Cristiano Ronaldo’s last feature on this list is also the last post by a celebrity to feature. It shows him and his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez announcing their pregnancy with twins.

1. Egg: 55.7 million likes

 

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A post shared by Egg Gang (@world_record_egg)

Surprisingly, and hilariously, the most liked Instagram post by a long way (some 23 million likes) is a photo of an egg. Within days of its creation ‘@world_record_egg’ became an internet meme sensation. The account was launched and the image posted with the sole purpose of becoming the most-liked Instagram post with the caption: “Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)! We got this.”. It’s also the most liked online post on any website. The owner of the account is Chris Godfrey, an advertising executive who took the photo from Shutterstock, a stock photography site.

FAQs

What is the most liked post on Instagram?

@world_record_egg’s post of an egg in 2019 is the most liked post on Instagram with 55.7 million likes. It became the most liked Instagram post after passing previous record holder Kylie Jenner’s post which was the first photo of her daughter Stormi.

What is the second most liked photo on Instagram?

Cristiano Ronaldo’s announcement that his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez is pregnant with twins is the second most liked photo on Instagram with 32.7 million likes.

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