Cristiano Ronaldo sends 12-word message to Speed on his birthday and it's broken the internet

Cristiano Ronaldo surprised fans by sending YouTuber iShowSpeed a birthday message on Instagram.

The streamer, real name Darren Watkins, turned 20 on 21 January and posted a dump on his Instagram featuring a variety of recent pictures.

Speed, a Ronaldo superfan, showed off his CR7-themed cake, posted a picture of him wearing an Argentina shirt in Buenos Aires and even finished the album with a bizarre image of his idol.

The post racked up 5.6 million likes on Instagram and incredibly, Ronaldo, the most-followed person on the platform, was in the comments with a special message for Speed.

The two have met once before, thanks to the help of AC Milan's Rafael Leao. It was a huge moment for the American, who kept saying "Oh my god" after finally linking up with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner after a number of near-misses.

The two took a picture following Portugal's win over Bosnia-Herzegovina back in June 2023, with Speed even trying to get a 'SIUUU' celebration going.

After the content creator celebrated not being a teenager anymore, Ronaldo wrote: "Happy Birthday, Speed! Hope your day was great. Stay wild and fast!".

The comment has accrued more than 800,000 likes since Ronaldo, who has 648 million followers on the platform, penned it around 12 hours ago.

Cristiano Ronaldo sent Speed a birthday message. Image: Instagram

Speed spent a considerable period trying to find Ronaldo in person and now fast forward a few years and he appears to be best mates with him.

Before Christmas, YouTube sensation MrBeast and Ronaldo filmed collaboration content together and then proceeded to add Speed into a group chat with the Manchester United and Real Madrid legend.

An excited Speed was on livestream and revealed his text to the group, which read: "Hey Ronaldo, It's Speed, we met about last year. I just wanted to say hi, and hopefully we can meet again soon. Cheers."

Ronaldo isn't the only superstar in his phonebook as Speed also claims to have the number for Real and Brazil star Vinicius Jr, who came second in the 2024 Ballon dOr rankings.