In addition to being European football’s goalscoring king, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo is now the unquestioned king of Instagram as well.
ESPN FC noted Friday that Ronaldo became the first person in the world to reach 300 million Instagram followers:
Most followed people on Instagram:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo: 300m
2. The Rock: 246m
3. Ariana Grande: 244m
4. Kylie Jenner: 241m
5. Selena Gomez: 238m
6. Kim Kardashian: 229m
7. Leo Messi: 218m
8. Beyonce: 186m
9. Justin Bieber: 178m
10. Kendall Jenner: 170m pic.twitter.com/n69OZ4L0Yz— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 18, 2021
The accomplishment comes on the heels of Ronaldo scoring twice in a 3-0 victory over Hungary during Portugal’s UEFA Euro 2020 opener on Tuesday.
With those goals, Ronaldo has 11 all time in European Championships, moving him past France’s Michel Platini for the record.
Ronaldo also has 106 goals for Portugal. He trails only Iran’s Ali Daei and his 109 goals for the most international goals in men’s soccer history.
The 36-year-old, who is appearing in a record fifth European Championship, has Portugal off to a great start, as they lead a stacked Group F with a 1-0-0 record and a plus-three goal differential.
Ronaldo and Portugal are next in action Saturday, when they travel to Munich to face Germany in a match that could go a long way toward determining the group winner.
With Ronaldo leading the way, Portugal won Euro 2016, and it has a chance to repeat if he keeps performing up to his reputation as one of the game’s greatest players.
News of Ronaldo’s social milestone does come while he is facing a lawsuit from American woman Kathryn Mayorga, who has accused Ronaldo of raping her in 2009 in a Las Vegas hotel and set compensation at $56 million, according to the Mirror‘s Christopher Bucktin. Las Vegas prosecutors announced in July 2019 that Ronaldo would not face criminal charges in the case.
Despite the severity of the allegation Ronaldo is facing, his marketability has not suffered. In the most recent example, Coca-Cola’s market value dropped by $4 billion after Ronaldo moved two bottles of the drink away from him before a press conference, saying water is better.
Source: B/R Football