Cristiano Ronaldo is no stranger to making history and setting records, from scoring the most international goals to being the record scorer across all UEFA club competitions. Recently, however, the legendary Portuguese international has expanded his horizons: becoming a YouTube phenomenon.
On Wednesday, Ronaldo announced his debut on the website to the message "The wait is over. My @YouTube channel is finally here! SIUUUbscribe and join me on this new journey."
Ronaldo's popularity on YouTube comes as no surprise, given his vast social media presence: commanding 110 million followers on Twitter, 636 million on Instagram and 170 million on Facebook, bringing him just short of one billion followers across all social media combined, but the unprecedented success of his new channel was beyond anyone's expectations.
The channel became an instant sensation, rapidly becoming the fastest-growing channel in the platform's history as it gained one million subscribers in just 90 minutes. It then surpassed popular YouTuber MrBeast, who boasts 311 million subscribers, by breaking his record of reaching 10 million subscribers in 132 days, achieving the feat in less than 24 hours.
Ronaldo's channel, titled "UR Cristiano", has shown no signs of slowing its exponential growth, currently amassing a staggering 31.9 million subscribers at the time of writing.
That total eclipses many of the major football-related YouTube accounts, including long-standing rival Lionel Messi's channel, which has 2.68 million subscribers, while it also surpasses the subscriber counts of many of the world's biggest clubs.
Here, Sports Mole takes a look at how Ronaldo's new YouTube channel compares to some of the world's biggest clubs.
Manchester United – 9.31 million subscribers
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Despite being widely regarded as one of the most followed football teams in the world, Man United's channel – which was created in December 2017 – has less than a third of Ronaldo's subscriber count, accumulating 9.31 million in the last six and a half years.
Liverpool – 10.3 million subscribers
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The Reds were one of the earliest teams to embrace YouTube, creating their account in October 2005, just eight months after the platform's debut in February 2005.
Even with their significant head start on the website, Ronaldo has already more than tripled Liverpool's subscriber count of 10.3 million.
Real Madrid – 15 million subscribers
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Another of Ronaldo's former clubs on the list, Real Madrid, have gathered a fantastic 15 million subscribers since they created their YouTube channel in April 2006.
Once again though, they are no match for Ronaldo's immense social media presence, with less than half of his total subscribers after less than two days on the platform.
Barcelona – 17.9 million subscribers
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Ronaldo's biggest rival for much of his glittering career, Barcelona have secured 17.9 million subscribers since the channel was launched in February 2006, the most of any football team in the world.
The Portuguese striker's channel passed that total in no time, reaching an astonishing 20 million subscribers in less than 24 hours.
FIFA – 21.5 million subscribers
Arguably the most remarkable achievement on the list, Ronaldo's newly-released channel has already overtaken the official FIFA YouTube channel, the home of World Cup content.
FIFA's channel has gathered 21.5 million subscribers since its creation in September 2006, but "UR Cristiano" is already over 10 million ahead.
