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Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has been ranked as the 7th most popular sporting icon in the world with Cristiano Ronaldo surprisingly left off the top 10.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have battled for honours on and off the pitch for over 15 years, competing for, and winning endless accolades.
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In a new list released by British sports media GiveMeSport, Messi ranks ahead of Ronaldo in the list of most popular sportsmen in history.
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Messi, who is widely considered the greatest player of all time after cementing his legacy by leading Argentina to FIFA World Cup triumph in 2022, is one of only four footballers to make the full list and one of only three inside the top ten.
TOP 10 LIST
1. Maradona – (Argentina & Football legend)
2. Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls and Basketball legend)
3. Pele (Footballing legend)
4. Babe Ruth (Baseball Icon)
5. Larry Bird (Boston Celtics and Basketball legend)
6. Roger Federer (Tennis legend)
7. Lionel Messi (Footballing icon)
8. Wayne Gretzky (Legendary Ice Hockey star),
9. Late Sir Donald Bradman (Australia Cricket legend)
10. LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers Basketball player)
The full list extends to 15 names with guys like Tom Brady (American football), Usain Bolt (athletics), Serena Williams (tennis),Muhammad Ali (boxing) and Cristiano Ronaldo (football) making up the extra 5 names.
Fans of Cristiano Ronaldo have taken offence to the ex-Real Madrid goal machine being placed outside the top 10 despite his massive following on Social Media and popularity around the world.
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Fans react to Messi being ranked ahead of Ronaldo
Lol how in the world do you put the most followed person on social media in the world 15th. Everyone knows Cristiano Ronaldo for his football and outside the field works.
Who the heck knows about Maradona outside of the football community? People only know Messi because of CR7— random musings (@randommusings95) August 21, 2023
Also, the World Cup doesn’t make someone a GOAT. It’s not Ronaldo’s fault his national team has struggled to make it past the semis, given they’ve barely qualified for the tournament before he joined.
Messi plays for Argentina, a significantly better football country.— random musings (@randommusings95) August 21, 2023
Ronaldo outside the top 10 is a crime. https://t.co/gume9i8J5v
— III (@ThirdSplashBro) August 29, 2023
Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the most followed person on Instagram with 614m followers.
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