Cristiano Ronaldo's 50ft cutout towers over Lionel Messi and Neymar as FIFA World Cup 2022 craze reaches India 

Cristiano Ronaldo’s giant cutout has been erected on the banks of Kerala's Pullavoor river ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with it succeeding Lionel Messi and Neymar’s larger-than-life cutouts.

With the 2022 FIFA World Cup just around the corner, football aficionados in India are pulling all the stops to back their favorite teams and players. First, Lionel Messi and Argentina fans erected a huge 30ft cutout of the Paris Saint-Germain superstar on the banks of Pullavoor. Brazil and Neymar fans responded by putting up a 40ft cutout of the Brazilian forward just in front of Lionel Messi's.

The biggest one yet, as per TimesNow, has been inaugurated by Portugal and Ronaldo fans, who have come together to erect a mammoth 50ft cutout of Cristiano Ronaldo. In the cutout, Ronaldo is seen wearing his Portugal jersey and preparing for his trademark free kick (a still from the 2018 FIFA World Cup).

While the cutouts are a testament to the love the country has for the FIFA World Cup, keeping them erect might not be straightforward. Chathamangalam Grama Panchayat was recently asked to take them all down, with a lawyer arguing that the cutouts hindered the natural flow of the river.

Kozhikode's Koduvally Municipality, however, has fought back, insisting that the cutouts were in their jurisdiction, not Grama Panchayat’s. The municipality also claimed that it had not received any legal notice about the cutouts’ removal.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal kick off their 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign with a clash against Group H rivals Ghana on November 24. Lionel Messi’s Argentina, on the other hand, will take on Saudi Arabia in the World Cup opener on November 22.

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Cristiano Ronaldo struggles in penultimate Premier League game before 2022 FIFA World Cup

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag named Cristiano Ronaldo in his starting XI for the Premier League clash against Aston Villa on Sunday (November 6). The Portuguese superstar struggled to get himself involved as his team succumbed to a lackluster 3-1 defeat at Villa Park.

The former Real Madrid man only lodged one shot on target, took a mere 25 touches in 90 minutes, and lost possession four times. Ronaldo has now scored merely thrice in 16 appearances this season across competitions. The ex-Juventus man is expected to feature in his final pre-World Cup league game against Fulham on November 13.

His bitter rival Lionel Messi, on the other hand, has been in excellent form for Paris Saint-Germain, scoring 12 goals and claiming 14 assists in 18 appearances this season.