Cristiano Ronaldo edges past Neymar to become most popular footballer on Instagram

Real Madrid superstar is the richest and the most marketable brand in world football

We all know Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most popular athletes on the planet. He has won everything that there is to be won in a professional football player’s career.

The three-time Ballon d’Or winner has now added another title to his name by becoming the most popular footballer on Instagram. On most occasions, the Portugal captain will go head-to-head with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi on all fronts. Be it for the Best Player award, La Liga title or Champions League glory.

This time, though, he was up against Messi’s teammate Brazilian sensation Neymar who had been top of the pops when it came to the photo sharing social media website with a whopping 33.3 million followers. The Brazillian was claimed to be the ‘selfie-king’ among the football players in the world.

But not anymore. The former Manchester United player, who’s ever so competitive on the pitch, has taken it outside the pitch as well and the Real Madrid icon now has up to 33.5 million followers on Instagram.

Like any other celebrity Instagram users, Ronaldo uses the site for a mixture of selfies, modelling shots, training ground snaps and shows off his never ending list of trophies, reminding the overwhelming majority of his millions of followers that he is the best.

Ronaldo is now the most followed footballer among all three leading social media giants- Facebook, Twitter and now Instagram.

The 30-year-old’s game changer was when he posted a shot of him eating some soup with his son, Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. It was the snap that tipped the scales past the famous Neymar on Instagram.

Meanwhile, the Portugal skipper has again been nominated for the 2015 Ballon d’Or. Ronaldo will be looking to bag his fourth successive win – which would no doubt provide an excellent excuse to post on the social network again.

The 35 million followers on Instagram were also excited to watch their hero on the big screen, as he was due to hit cinemas next month in Martin Scorcese’s upcoming movie. However, it has been reported that he will no longer feature in the movie after the legendary director reportedly backtracked on a promise to give him a role in his latest picture "The Manipulator" after his sprawling Manhattan penthouse apartment was chosen as a filming location.

But the fans shouldn’t be dismayed hearing this news. The 30-year-old will hit the cinemas but in his own documentary film “Ronaldo” which is directed by the makers of acclaimed documentaries "Senna" and "Amy". The trailer was out last month and it has got all the fans excited ahead of the release.