Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi‘s picture playing chess has gone viral. The photo was an advertisement for Louis Vuitton ahead of the World Cup. Besides this photo going viral, Ronaldo has also been in the news for his explosive interview with Piers Morgan. He will begin his World Cup campaign with Portugal against Ghana on Thursday.
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In his interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo also commented on when he would retire. Ronaldo said he would like to go on to play until he is 40. That means this World Cup could well be his last. Messi had already confirmed earlier this season that this World Cup would be his last. Both Messi’s and Ronaldo’s club future is up in the air at the moment.
Lionel Messi playing chess with Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the second most-liked picture on Instagram
The Mess-Ronaldo rivalry has been one that has divided football fans for many years. But this photo seemed to have united both sides of the rivalry. The post has become the second most liked post on Instagram, after the world record egg whose aim was to get the most likes in the world.
The post on Ronaldo’s Instagram has 36.6 million likes. The photo on Messi’s Instagram is the 5th most liked post, with 28.3 million likes.
the most liked instagram post is this egg at 55M likes, Ronaldo’s post with Messi has nearly 30M in 16 hours…
let’s make the GOATs the most liked. pic.twitter.com/RAmk85fksV
— george (@StokeyyG2) November 20, 2022
Ronaldo also spoke about his rivalry with Messi in a press conference, “We’re check-mating in life, not just in chess. I would like to be the one to checkmate Messi. Let’s see. It would be nice. Since it happened in a game of chess, in football it would be more.” He claims to have already defeated Messi in chess and now wants to do it in football.
Magnus Carlsen sheds light on the Ronaldo-Messi chess game
Many fans have noticed the position of the chess pieces on the chess board in the viral photograph. Messi and Ronaldo are seen sitting on either side of the board, sitting on a case that is supposed to hold the World Cup trophy. The position of the pieces is reportedly from the game between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura.
Second greatest rivalry of our time mimicking the greatest https://t.co/9ncVVgUnzs
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) November 19, 2022
Carlsen also commented on the position of the pieces. The former world champion in chess said, “Second greatest rivalry of our time mimicking the greatest.” Carlsen was also asked if his rivalry with Nakamura is comparable to the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry, he jokingly said, “Not really, but he’s good at a lot of the stuff that I’m good at, for sure. It’s not the worst comparison in the world.”
Messi and Ronaldo’s rivalry has been well-documented and debated for many years. But as they both head into what could be their final World Cup, many fans have expressed how happy they are to have seen the two greats play in five World Cups.
