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Lionel Messi has been making some serious cash just from Instagram in recent weeks after winning the World Cup.
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner finally got his hands on the World Cup to complete his trophy collection after Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties at the Lusail Stadium following an enthralling 3-3 draw in which he scored twice.
Messi celebrated by holding the trophy aloft while being hoisted up in the air himself afterwards, with the picture becoming the most-liked in the history of Instagram.
In two days it beat the previous record set by a picture of an egg in 2019 and now sits on 74 million likes.
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And Messi is cashing in on his success in a big way. Since he lifted the World Cup, Messi has had a whole lot of paid content on his Instagram page.
Posting to his 414 million followers, he's promoted both Call of Duty and Konami eFootball video games, Gatorade, Budweiser as well as crypto exchange Bitget and artificial vision brand Orcam.
Messi makes eye-watering money from endorsement deals, with $30 million coming in from Adidas, Gatorade and Pepsi.
But the Daily Mail say Messi has been raking in around £1.5 million per branded Instagram post of late, totalling over £9 million.
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Considering he's reported to be earning €35 million per year in wages from club Paris Saint-Germain, it's not a bad sum at all for Messi to be bringing in.
Cristiano Ronaldo has hit headlines for signing an insane £173 million per year deal with Saudi Arabia side Al Nassr but Ronaldo, who has more followers than Messi, hasn't posted a paid partnership since he played his final World Cup game.
Messi has been enjoying an extended break after a stunning World Cup campaign but made his return to Paris Saint-Germain training on Wednesday.
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He received a guard of honour from his teammates in training and could be in contention for the French cup game against Chateauroux on Friday.
Topics: Lionel Messi, Argentina, Football World Cup
Josh Lawless