Argentinian star Lionel Messi reached an important milestone on Instagram when he reached 500 million followers. The Inter Miami striker is only the second person in the world to reach that lamppost, but he still has 122 million followers following CR7’s lead.
Messi started his account in June 2013 and chronicles his football journey, which includes much of his success with Barcelona, winning the World Cup with Argentina in 2022 and moving to Inter Miami. In addition, the 36-year-old ‘actor’ also posts pictures of his family as well as luxury brands.
Messi’s 500 million followers are truly epic, but he is still far from the top spot as long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo has 622 million followers. Ronaldo’s account was established in May 2012, more than a year before Messi.
The most followed account on the platform is not an individual but Instagram itself, with 669 million followers.
After Ronaldo and Messi, singer and actress Selena Gomez ranked 4th with 429 million followers, while beauty Kylie Jenner ranked 5th with 400 million.
Muscle actor Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, ranked 6th with 396 million followers.
Cricket legend Virat Kohli is ranked 16th with 266 million followers. Al-Hilal star Neymar is the third most popular footballer with 219 million followers, putting him in 20th place overall.
Basketball icon LeBron James ranked 26th with 159 million followers and Real Madrid is the most popular football club on the platform, attracting 152 million followers compared to Barcelona’s 125 million.
One soccer player with over 100 million followers is Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappé, with 111 million followers.
