Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo may not be as domineering on the field as before, but he is the undisputed king when it comes to social media - and Instagram in particular.
According to the BBC, the Manchester United forward will be the most influential footballer on Instagram among players participating at the World Cup 2022 in Qatar starting in November.
Ronaldo has a total of 481 million followers on the social media platform, the most for any individual in the world. Apart from that, he has 103.5m Twitter followers and 153m on Facebook. That makes his reach in the online world worth its weight in gold.
The report stated that Ronaldo averages more than $3.5 million in media value per post on Instagram, according to analysts Nielsen Gracenote. That makes Ronaldo's posts the most valuable in all football.
Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain star Lionel Messi comes next on the Instagram list, with 360m followers and a value per post of $2.6m. His PSG teammates Neymar (178m) and Kylian Mbappe (72.5m) average more than $1m per post.
The report also looked at up-and-coming names on the platform. Barcelona youngster Gavi has seen his fame shoot through the roof, raising his following to 6.2m.
Brazil's Raphinha (3m) and Antony (4.9m) are behind Gavi in the standings, enjoying massive growth in supporters.
Among teams at Qatar 2022, France (11.7m) and Brazil (11.5m) will be the most followed sides on the app during the World Cup, with Portugal third on the list with 10.4m followers.
