The photographer behind football’s most-liked Instagram post ever

A single photograph of Lionel Messi smiling as he carried the World Cup towards Argentina’s supporters in Qatar has become the most-liked post in Instagram’s history, and it was taken by veteran Getty Images photographer Shaun Botterill. Speaking to The Independent’s Kieran Jackson, Botterill reflected on a career that began at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and has now spanned eight tournaments.

Botterill was just 18 when he first travelled with Getty Images to Mexico in 1986. Although he did not photograph any matches on that trip, he visited the Azteca Stadium on a non-matchday and said the ground’s mythical reputation was unmistakable even when empty.

“I was only 18, and you don’t quite believe you’re there,” Botterill told The Independent. “I’d only been on a plane once before, and suddenly I was in Mexico at the World Cup. It felt like the whole world had opened up in front of me.”

The Messi moment in Qatar

Four decades on from that first trip, Botterill found himself stationed at the end of the Lusail Stadium as Messi finally lifted the World Cup with Argentina in 2022. With roughly 200 photographers working the final, he described the challenge of simply being in the right spot as Messi approached the delirious Argentine fans.

“There are probably 200 photographers at a World Cup final, so the chances of being in exactly the right place are pretty small,” Botterill said. “Then Messi suddenly appeared about two metres in front of me and I just couldn’t believe it.”

“The moment he smiled, I knew. He’s not someone who smiles much on the pitch, so when he did, you realised you’d witnessed something really special. We had a plan for where we thought he might come, but after that it’s just luck. Sometimes photography really is about being in exactly the right place at exactly the right moment,” he added.

The image was immediately sent out through Getty’s software feeds to its clients worldwide, but its viral spread was sealed when Messi posted it himself. The photograph has since become the most-liked post in Instagram’s history, standing at 76.5 million likes.

Botterill said he did not immediately grasp what had happened. “I landed, switched my phone on, and someone had messaged saying, ‘Your picture’s become a bit popular’ – it was all a bit surreal,” he said. “As a kid, my dream wasn’t Instagram. That’s not how my brain was wired.”

From Maradona to Messi

The Qatar image is regularly compared to the iconic 1986 photograph of Diego Maradona holding the World Cup aloft at the Azteca, with the same row of national flags visible in the background. Botterill, who had toured that very stadium as a teenager, went on to first photograph Messi playing for Argentina at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, long before the pair’s paths crossed again in Qatar.

Qatar marked Botterill’s eighth World Cup on assignment for Getty Images, a career arc that has taken him from an apprehensive teenager touring an empty Azteca to capturing one of football’s most shared images of all time.

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