Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have again been engaged in a competition that is long beyond the football field. This time the fight is playing out on the social media platform, where the two world icons are behind a record that has never been attained by any athlete before: the title of the most-followed instagram account.
Messi and Ronaldo have made their names synonymous with modern football in terms of goals, trophies, and personal awards and honors (almost 20 years together). The next step in their competition is now in the digital world, victory no longer is determined by goals but followers. The two stars are now the most-followed personalities on Instagram but are second to one unlikely competitor, the Instagram official account.
Instagram has about 697 million followers on the Instagram own profile as of early 2026. Cristiano Ronaldo is in the second position with approximately 668 million and Lionel Messi is ranked third in the world with more than 510 million followers. It is true that the distance between the two players is still very large, yet both of them are finding followers at an impressive pace, which is supported by the fact that they have become popular over the years and have fanbases all over the world.
This milestone is not entirely under their control unlike what they have accomplished in the field. It relies on the preferences of millions of users across the globe who do not only follow their lives, careers and personalities in football. Nevertheless, the statistics indicate their unsurpassed international popularity and influence.
In the meantime, both teams are still in action to pursue the history of football. Ronaldo is nearing an all-time record of 1,000 official career goals, which he has 956. Messi, however, has been extending his record as the most decorated player in football, now possessing 48 major trophies and so on.
The two legends may also make history jointly as the only players to play six world cups in the event that Messi confirms his attendance in the 2018 world cup. Messi, as the captain of Argentina, might also strive to secure the World Cup title that it won in Qatar 2022.
In the field or Instagram, Messi and Ronaldo keep reinventing the image of sporting greatness in the contemporary world.
