Lionel Messi became only the second person to reach 500 million followers on social media, as the World Cup winners move to the United States continues to catapult his international fame.
Messi moved to Inter Miami in the summer, and instantly became one of the biggest stars in the entire United States with everyone in the country, including celebrities, were desperate to see him in action.
The Argentine's move brought millions of eyes to the MLS, and his presence has seen former Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba all join him at Inter Miami.
Messi's move to the states has seen a drastic increase in his social media following, with the forward gaining over 2.1 million followers on Instagram alone in the last 30 days.
This puts him over the 500 million mark, and becomes only the second person to achieve the milestone behind, you guessed it, Cristiano Ronaldo.
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Ronaldo continues to lead the way when it comes to being the most followed human alive, with the Portugal captain sitting on 662 million followers, which is more than Lionel Messi and LeBron James combined.
The full list of most followed individuals makes for interesting reading, with Messi and Ronaldo once again showing the global reach football has over other sports and the Hollywood film industry.
- Cristiano Ronaldo- 662 million followers
- Lionel Messi- 500 million followers
- Selena Gomez- 429 million followers
- Kylie Jenner- 400 million followers
- Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson- 396 million followers
- Ariana Grande- 380 million followers
- Kim Kardashian- 364 million followers
- Beyonce- 319 million followers
- Khloe Kardashian- 311 million followers
- Kendall Jenner- 294 million followers
Other sports stars in the top 50:
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Virat Kholi- 266 million followers
Neymar Jr- 219 million followers
LeBron James- 159 million followers
Kylian Mbappe- 111 million followers
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David Beckham- 86.9 million followers
You can see the full 'Top 50' here.
Topics: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Inter Miami, MLS, Barcelona, Football
Tom Jenkins