Why Cristiano Ronaldo have more fans than Lionel Messi, even though everybody admits that Messi is the best player.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a tall, handsome, charming, aesthetic man with a womanizing streak and a lavish lifestyle. The internet eats that stuff up, which is why he has almost half a billion followers on Instagram, only beaten out by the official Instagram account itself. Messi is 124 million followers behind him.

This is a common phenomenon in sports: the athlete who becomes the face of the sport even though other athletes have surpassed him. Physical appearance and personality can compensate for any lack of accomplishments. It’s the same in tennis; Roger Federer has slipped behind Nadal and Djokovic in Grand Slams but is still the most popular tennis player alive, and won ATP Fan Favorite every single year he was in the running. He just had greater appeal.

This man casually commanded the highest tennis salary year after year, even when he didn’t win a single title. Incredible popularity.

Lionel Messi is a fabulous soccer player, possibly the greatest ever, and set to go down in record books as greater than Ronaldo in nearly every category. But at the end of the day, Ronaldo is still the face of soccer for many fans worldwide and will hold onto that title long after his accomplishments are surpassed. It’s the nature of public opinion.

Just wait until his son starts competing. I suspect he’ll be capturing hearts as easily as his father.

Like father like son. Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. is already looking very promising as a player.