A Comparison between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s respective fanbases

What is Football?

Football is a team sport consisting of 11 players on the field for each team, so there should be 22 players. Football is played with a ball on a grass pitch and players use their feet (with shoes no homo) to kick the ball. The goal of the game is to score as much against the other team. Games can end in wins, draws and losses. Football also has a lot of competitions, for example, the World Cup, a trophy Cristiano Ronaldo still dreams of winning to this day. The games are played in two halves, including 45 minutes for each half(with added/injury time), so each game should last 90 minutes. Of course, there is also added time or injury time to add to the time, since some injuries might have happened or some players might have wasted time.

Who is Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is a Portuguese football player, he plays as a Striker for Al Nassr, a Saudi Arabian Professional football team. Ronaldo used to like playing on the left wing, as he had brilliant speed and dribbling skills. However, He has since switched to a more traditional striker role due to his age and the less difficult position, as supporting players will pass to his location, where he can shoot for a goal. When he was playing as a striker for Manchester United during the 2021/22 season, he bagged 24 goals, including multiple game-winners.

As you can see in the subtitle, this article is a comparison between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

So Who is Lionel Messi?

Lionel Messi, also known as Leo, is an Argentine football player. Lionel, who plays as an attacker/attacking player, usually likes to play on the right wing, as it lets him display his football abilities. Leo plays for Inter Miami, an American professional football team. He is an amazing player and a lot of people in the world consider him as the GOAT, the abbreviation for Greatest Of All Time. The comparison with Messi is usually him and Cristiano Ronaldo (his Career Rival). Messi has won 4 Champions Leagues, one of the most prestigious cups to win as a footballer.

Social Media Followers

Cristiano Ronaldo is relatively more famous than Lionel Messi, which can be proven by Cristiano’s Instagram follower count.

Cristiano Ronaldo is 2nd on the leaderboards for largest following on Instagram, only behind Instagram’s official Instagram account:

Messi and Ronaldo have been at the top of football for 15 years and people still compare them every day. In debates, professional footballers, some of the best in the world, still get asked about this comparison.

According to the media, Ronaldo earns around 3.23 million dollars per Instagram post (insane!), with Messi being second, who earns around 2.6 million dollars per Instagram post.

My Opinion

My opinion certainly doesn’t matter, but I consider opinions a very big part of debates between professional athletes. My opinion is that Cristiano Ronaldo has a larger fanbase. If you go on a street in Africa, they’ll probably say they know Cristiano Ronaldo rather than say they know Lionel Messi. This doesn’t change my opinion on the GOAT (greatest of all time) argument of how Lionel Messi is the greatest, and I can go all day about how Messi is obviously the greatest football player of all time. I think at the end of the day, Ronaldo’s fanbase is massive and although Messi’s career and statistics are there, 91 goals in a single calendar year, is better than Ronaldo’s highest goal count in a calendar year. – this is also with Messi being a playmaker, not the main scorer in his team.

The Connection to Hong Kong

This topic of football connects to Hong Kong because football is a worldwide sport and a lot of kids in this school play this sport. Games are set to be played at a time for Hongkongers to watch because of the rising interest in Hong Kong. I always watch Premier League matches (the top flight of English football), and my favourite club is Manchester United.

Conclusion

Football can be played by anyone, anyone, it can be played by everyone, because it is a hobby that everyone can have, I used to play football and had football classes, and I had a lot of fun being there and playing football. So I think, as long as you have passion for a sport, you should go for it, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t do it. Lionel Messi may not have the largest fanbase in the world, but he is certainly one thing: A world Cup winner.