Cristiano Ronaldo sets records with YouTube channel launch, quickly passes Lionel Messi

The Lionel Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo debate is eternal in the soccer world, but there’s now one thing the Portuguese star can claim over his Argentinian counterpart: YouTube supremacy.

Ronaldo, who plays with Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr, launched his own channel on Wednesday and recorded the most successful YouTube channel launch ever, reaching 100,000 subscribers in 55 minutes and then one million subscribers in 90 minutes.

It also didn’t take very long for Ronaldo’s channel to pass Messi‘s subscriber count. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Inter Miami captain’s channel has 2.2 million subscribers, while Ronaldo’s is well over 6 million.

Messi, though, has only posted one video to the channel since Sept. 1, 2021. Ronaldo debuted his with 11 videos.

According to the channel’s launch announcement, the platform will give Ronaldo the opportunity to discuss soccer, his “greatest passion,” along with “his other interests, including family, wellness, nutrition, preparation, recovery, education, and business.”

Ronaldo’s channel may be growing quickly, but he will need some time if he plans to challenge Mr. Beast (311 million subscribers) for the largest subscriber count on YouTube.

The 39-year-old Ronaldo is nearing the end of his illustrious soccer career, which has seen him win seven league titles across England, Spain and Italy, as well as five Ballon d’Or awards, among numerous other honors. He said in July that Euro 2024 would be his last with Portugal, but did not say whether he would represent his country at the 2026 World Cup.