Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, and Argentine Lionel Messi, 38, reach their sixth participation in World Cups leading search interest in Brazil in the last month, in a comparison between the stars of the five international teams that lead the FIFA (International Football Federation) rankings, show data from Google Trends.
The peak of interest in Cristiano Ronaldo was reached on Friday (5), when the Portuguese team released a video of the athlete practicing free kicks.
Around the world, the highest level of interest came on May 21, after Al-Nassr won the Saudi championship 4-1, with two goals from the striker.
Cristiano made 36 appearances in the 2025/26 season, including five for Portugal in the qualifiers, with 31 goals and four assists.
Messi, in turn, was ahead of the interest curve in Brazil twice last month: on May 24, after being substituted due to muscle fatigue in an Inter Miami game, and after the victory over Iceland in the last friendly before the World Cup, played on Tuesday (9).
Both CR7 and Messi have a strong presence in the net. On Instagram, the Portuguese has more than 665 million followers on his official profile, compared to the Argentine’s 506 million.
The details of user searches on Google show that the two athletes were also boosted in Brazil by the sale of sticker albums.
Both are part of the set of 20 cards that are part of the special category called Legends and are more difficult to find on newsstands, which generated curiosity among collectors about what the value of the chrome would be.
In Group K, in search of its first World Cup trophy, the Portugal team debuts on Wednesday (17), at 2 pm, against the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), which is competing in its second World Cup. Argentina, which is part of Group J, will face Algeria on Tuesday (16), at 10pm.
Other World Cup stars still have low search interest in Brazil, which could change once they enter the field.
These are the cases of Kylian Mbappé, 27, from France, and Lamine Yamal, 18, from Spain – both favorites in the World Cup, according to projections by Opta Analyst, a company specializing in sports statistics, and another veteran. Behind the search curve, the captain of the English team, Harry Kane, appears.
With 12 goals in two World Cups, Mbappé, like Messi, who has already scored 13 goals in five World Cups, will seek the title of top scorer in the history of the competition.
