Lionel Messi is positioned at number one according to SportsPor’s 2020 in the list of top 50 athletes, with rival Cristiano Ronaldo finishing in second place.
The duo dominates the world, ahead of NBA star LeBron James and India cricket captain Vurat Kholi.
CR7 over the years has been the most influential athlete in the world, in terms of the number of followers on Instagram (238 million compared to Messi 167 million followers).
However, Messi has managed to win six Golden Balls during his career, being ahead of the Portuguese with value, influence in the media and general appearance.
SportsPro’s has published the full list of the 50 most influential people:
50 – Russell Westbrook (Basketball)
49 – Mikaela Shiffrin (Skiing)
48 – Ashleigh Barty (Tennis)
47 – Dorothea Wierer (Biathlon)
46 – Katelyn Ohashi (Gymnastics)
45 – Katrin Davidsdottir (Motor on water)
44 – Giannis Antetokounmpo (Basketball)
43 – Zion Williamson (Basketball)
42 – Anthony Davis (Basketball)
41 – Carissa Moore (Surfig)
40 – Bethany Hamilton (Surfig)
39 – Dele Alli (Football)
38 – Kelia Termini (Surfig)
37 – Charles Leclerc (Motor racing)
36 – Luka Doncic (Basketball)
35 – Roger Federer (Tennis)
34 – Son Heung-min (Football)
33 – Naomi Osaka (Tennis)
32 – Tyson Fury (Boxing)
31 – Anthony Joshua (Boxing)
30 – Tom Brady (American Football)
29 – Anna Gasser (Snowbord)
28 – Rafael Nadal (Tennis)
27 – Sky Brown (Skateboard)
26 – Patrick Mahomes (American Football)
25 – Megan Rapinoe (Football)
24 – Jorge Masvidal (MMA)
23 – Virgil van Dijk (Football)
22 – Dina Asher-Smith (Athletics)
21 – Lewis Hamilton (Motorcycle Racing)
20 – Robert Lewandowski (Football)
19 – Paul Pogba (Football)
18 – Coco Gauff (Tennis)
17 – Alex Morgan (Football)
16 – Erling Haaland (Football)
15 – Kylian Mbappe (Football)
14 – Simone Biles (Gymnastics)
13 – Steph Curry (Basketball)
12 – Ryan Garcia (Boxing)
11 – Eden Hazard (Football)
10 – Paulo Dybala (Football)
9 – Mohamed Salah (Football)
8 – Rohit Sharma (Cricket)
7 – Khabib Nurmagomedov (MMA)
6 – Neymar Jr (Football)
5 – Bianca Andreescu (Tennis)
4 – Virat Kohli (Cricket)
3 – LeBron James (Basketball)
2 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Football)
1 – Lionel Messi (Football).
