Speed had priceless reaction after being tricked into thinking Cristiano Ronaldo was in the audience at Ballon d'Or ceremony

Footage of social media sensation iShowSpeed being tricked into thinking Cristiano Ronaldo was at the 2023 Ballon d'Or ceremony has gone viral.

Speed, who's real name is Darren Jason Watkins Jr, is well known for his adoration of Ronaldo, and finally met his idol after after Portugal's win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in June.

The 18-year-old publicly expressed his disappointment at Lionel Messi winning his eighth Ballon d'Or on Monday, shouting: "What! "Messi, man. Ain't no way, man. Not Ronaldo?"

In fact, Ronaldo wasn't included on the 30-man Ballon d'Or shortlist for the first time since 2003, and so was not in attendance at the prestigious award ceremony in Paris.

However, fellow YouTuber Fukay1070 tricked Speed into thinking the Portuguese superstar was in the audience, pointing towards a flurry of men in suits before bursting into laughter as Speed scanned the room for his idol.

You can watch the footage below.

Speed then turned around in disappointment after being informed that it was a joke.

However, the 18-year-old did bump into some other sporting icons, including Argentinian goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who he rather awkwardly asked if he preferred international teammate, Messi, or Ronaldo.

While he also chatted to tennis legend Novak Djokovic, who managed to persuade Speed that he played for AC Milan.

Speed approached the 36-year-old and asked: "What's you name? You look so familiar," to which Djokovic responded: "I'm a new AC Milan star," inciting great enthusiasm in the YouTuber.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Speed replied, before Djokovic continued: "I haven't played yet but I'm getting on in the next game. I'm going for a hat-trick."

Whether Speed liked it or not, the evening belonged to Messi, though, who gave a lengthy speech after receiving the award from Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham.

The Argentinian finished ahead of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, while Kevin De Bruyne finished in fourth position.

Meanwhile, Barcelona star Aitana Bonmati won the women's Ballon d'Or, ahead of Sam Kerr, Salma Paralluelo, Fridolina Rolfo and Lioness Mary Earps.

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Topics: IShowSpeed, Cristiano Ronaldo, Football, Ballon d'Or

Joe Adams

Joe is a Journalist for SPORTbible with a primary focus on football. He has previously covered a number of other sports including boxing, rugby and F1. Wishes he was born left-footed.

@joeadamsjourno