After watching his former national team hoist the 2026 World Cup, Sergio Ramos decided to poke some fun at Lionel Messi after Spain’s 1-0 win over Argentina with an Instagram post featuring Ramos sleeping with two World Cup trophies in his arms.
The two players used to be bitter rivals during their prime playing days in La Liga with Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively, and are now both approaching their imminent retirements from soccer. This means the two need to soak up all the memories and light-hearted moments while they still can.
Ramos’ post was a slight jab at Messi for his original post after Argentina’s 2022 World Cup win. While the Spaniard’s post most likely won’t gather more than 50 million likes on Instagram, fans of the sport may have a quick laugh and reminisce.
Here’s how the Spanish centre-back trolled Messi on the heels of the 2026 World Cup final.
How did Sergio Ramos troll Messi?
On Wednesday, the Spanish centerback posted a photo carousel on Instagram celebrating his country’s win at the 2026 World Cup. One of the photos took a familiar form that many soccer fans instantly picked up on.
The sixth picture featured Ramos sleeping with two World Cup trophies tucked in his arms. The golden double was a tie to Spain’s new duo of tournament hardware, along with a potential light-hearted jab at Messi.
Sergio Ramos recreated Messi’s iconic picture with the World Cup trophy … but this time with TWO trophies 👀🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/xuGoGfbVcV
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 22, 2026
Spanish midfielder Fabian Ruiz also shared his own take on Messi’s iconic photo on the team’s plane trip home.
Fabián Ruiz just recreated one of Messi’s most iconic World Cup photos. 🥹🏆 pic.twitter.com/voLtSApfOm
— RUTH 🇨🇦 (@it_Rutie) July 20, 2026
When did Messi post iconic sleeping with World Cup photo?
After Messi finally got his hands on his long-awaited World Cup trophy to essentially complete his trophy collection, he took a picture in bed with the glistening piece of metal nestled safely between his arms. Here’s a look at the Little Boy From Rosario’s golden slumber that made its rounds across social media.
How every Messi fan is sleeping tonight after losing against Spain pic.twitter.com/1h5BnHNkhE
— Red ❤️🔥 (@imJustRed) July 19, 2026
The Instagram post from Argentina’s new king gathered over 53 million likes and still stands as the third most liked post in the app’s history, according to Brandwatch.
How many World Cups has Sergio Ramos won?
Ramos was a part of Spain’s 2010 World Cup-winning squad. They defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in extra time thanks to a late Andres Iniesta goal.
The win was Spain’s first-ever World Cup final victory, along with the country’s first appearance in the match.
How many World Cups has Lionel Messi won?
Messi has also won one World Cup throughout his career. In 2022, he led Argentina to the country’s third tournament win and first since 1986.
While he’s only won a single World Cup trophy, Messi has played in a total of three final matches and has a 1-2 record. His losses came to Germany (1-0) in 2014 and Spain (1-0) in 2026.
