Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi? Here's who is 'Most Admired' out of the two

Determining football's all-time great is a gargantuan and tedious task but Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have made their respective cases for the title for more than a decade and a half. As the duo continue to topple records, this year, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi wrote their names into the history books for becoming billionaire footballers. However, in a debate to determine the most admired sportsman in the world in terms of popularity, Cristiano Ronaldo has pipped his long-time rival, six-time Ballon d'Or winner, Lionel Messi. 

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Cristiano Ronaldo edges Lionel Messi as Most Admired Sportsman 

In a recent study done by British market research and data analytics firm YouGov, Juventus and Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo pipped Lionel Messi as the most admired sportsman in the world. On the list of YouGov's Most Admired in 2020, Cristiano Ronaldo finished in sixth place, only behind the likes of Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi and Jackie Chan. Meanwhile, Barcelona and Argentina captain Lionel Messi took up the 11th spot on the list. 

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Cristiano Ronaldo jumped one spot this year while Lionel Messi dropped down two places. NBA legend Michael Jordan took the 13th spot on the list while Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli grabbed 16th place. These were the only four sportsmen on the list of YouGov's Top 20 Most Admired in 2020. However, here's a look at how YouGov went about gathering their data to determine the results.

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Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi: How Cristiano Ronaldo was given Most Admired Sportsman title

YouGov compared how Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi ranked in different countries and the 35-year-old Ronaldo was more admired in 32 of the 42 countries and territories that were surveyed. Over 45,000 people in 42 countries were asked to think about the most admired person alive in the world today to gather the research. Hence, according to YouGov, Ronaldo is more universally admired in comparison to Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo was once again on hand to rescue the Bianconeri from defeat as the Portuguese forward scored twice against Roma to salvage a point for the 10-man Juventus in Serie A on Sunday. On the other hand, Lionel Messi also grabbed Barcelona news headlines, scoring his first LaLiga goal of the season against Villarreal. Ansu Fati scored a brace and Pau Torres scored an own goal in the 4-0 rout. 

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Image Credits - Cristiano Ronaldo Instagram, FCBarcelona Twitter