Cristiano is more popular than Lionel Messi.

Real Madrid super star is more popular than Barcelona legend Lionel Messi in 2018 according to ESPN.com.

Top 10 most famous athletes are :

1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. Lionel Messi
3. LeBron James
4. Neymar
5. Roger Federer
6. Tiger Woods
7. Kevin Durant
8. Rafael Nadal
9. Stephen Curry
10. Phil Mickelson

ESPN said they ranked them based on three factors : how much the athlete's name is searched, money & followers on social media.

At this time, Cristiano Ronaldo have 126 million followers in Instagram, on other hand Lionel Messi have 91.7 million followers .