Ronaldo vs Messi on Instagram: CR7 increases his lead

Stuart Telford

• 21 Mar 2023 18:43 GMT
• 3 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo gained approximately 15 million Instagram followers over the last month, while Lionel Messi lost more than 500,000.

Ronaldo and Messi have dominated football for much of the 21st century, the pair winning 12 Ballons d'Or between them.

Widely regarded as two of the greatest players of all-time, both are now winding down their careers following their Clasico-defining heydays, Ronaldo playing in Saudi Arabia with Al-Nassr while Messi is with Paris Saint-Germain in France.

READ: Ronaldo v Messi: How their stats, goals & assists compare in 2022/23

The Saudi Pro League may not be as highly regarded as Ligue 1, but off the field, Ronaldo is outstripping Messi on social media, with his 15 million new followers the most fans gained on the platform among footballers over the last 30 days.

American singer Selena Gomez had the highest gains outright, with 22.4m new followers, but Ronaldo's 15.1m was nearly 10m more than Dwayne Johnson, previously known as "The Rock" managed.

Ronaldo has 120m more followers than Messi

Ronaldo now has a total of 564m followers, while Messi has 444m. Having won the World Cup with Argentina in December, Instagram confirmed that Messi had four of the five most-like posts ever, however.

READ: Messi to Saudi Arabia! - Pro League to give Leo DOUBLE Ronaldo salary

Ronaldo has scored nine goals and assisted two more in his 10 appearances for Al-Nassr, while Messi is up to 18 goals and 17 assists in all competitions for PSG.

Ronaldo's playing future would appear to be more certain than Messi's.

The Portuguese superstar signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Al-Nassr in January which pays him €200m a season, making him the highest-paid footballer of all time.

Messi it out of contract with PSG in the summer, with former club Barcelona and David Beckham's Inter Miami lurking.

There are also reports suggesting Messi could join Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia, with one club supposedly willing to double the wages Ronaldo is on.