Argentina maestro Lionel Messi stands to earn more millions from sponsored Instagram posts than Ronaldo following his World Cup victory with Argentina.
As it stands, it’s envisaged that the 35-year-old PSG star Messi could overtake his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo as the sport’s top earner.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or holder could replace the five-time Ballon d’Or victor Cristiano Ronaldo as sport’s top earner from Instagram after a £9 million World Cup bonanza.
Messi’s arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo has long earned the most wealth from Instagram.
But the 37-year-old miserable World Cup adventure and Messi’s success means the gap is narrowing.
Cristiano Ronaldo earned £2m per branded post in 2022, ahead of his Argentine rival Lionel Messi who had £1.5m, and Indian cricketer Virat Kohli’s £902,000.
However, since Messi lifted the World Cup on December 18, brands have scrambled to capitalize on his World Cup success with the PSG star poised to reap millions in endorsements on social media.
Currently, Messi has secured six different sponsors since his starring role at Qatar World Cup.
The sponsor plug ranges from popular video games to crypto exchanges and eyewear firms.
Messi’s official Instagram account, which has 414 million followers, has promoted Budweiser beer, the Call of Duty and football video games, the energy drink Gatorade, crypto exchange Bitget, and artificial eyewear firm Orcam.
The Argentine skipper has gone into online fortune since leading his side to victory in the epic World Cup final against France on December 18, in which he netted twice.
Lionel Messi has managed to reach an Instagram record of 75m likes for a picture of the Argentine captain hoisting the World Cup, as well as 50m hearts for a snap of the football legend sleeping next to the trophy.
The 35-year-old PSG forward Messi now has 414m Instagram followers, well behind Al-Nassr’s new signing Ronaldo who leads with 528m followers.
While Cristiano Ronaldo on the other hand will be basking in his massive new exploration that will arouse worldwide curiosity, as well as earn the Portuguese £173m a year from the Saudi club, Al-Nassr.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival at Al-Nassr has already spurred great influence at the Saudi club, which previously had around 860,000 followers before the global icon left European football for the Middle East.
The five-time Ballon d’Or victor has certainly done wonders for his new club Al-Nassr who now has over 7.9 million followers on Instagram a few days after his arrival.
Al-Nassr will clash with Al Ta’ee at home today, January 5, and coach Rudi Garcia could choose to hand Ronaldo his debut if he’s deemed fit to play.
On the other hand, Lionel Messi will also be seen in action for his club after returning from the World Cup vacation as PSG will head on to take Chateauroux in Coupe de France clash on Friday, January 6.
