Thomas Muller and Novak Djokovic hail Cristiano Ronaldo for reaching incredible social media milestone

Bayern Munich attacker Thomas Muller and former ATP singles world number 1 Novak Djokovic have congratulated Cristiano Ronaldo for reaching a staggering one billion social media followers.

Already the most followed person on Instagram, the 39-year-old Ronaldo (639 million followers) has made a sizzling start with his new YouTube channel, UR Cristiano. In less than a month since its launch, the channel has garnered nearly 62 million subscribers, boosting his overall social media followers to an unprecedented one billion on Thursday.

Ronaldo celebrated the milestone on Instagram - where he has 639 million followers - with a post captioned 'A Billion Dreams, One Journey:

"We've made history - 1 BILLION followers! This is more than just a number. It's a testament to our shared passion, drive and love for the game and beyond.

"From the streets of Madeira to the biggest stages in the world, I've always played for my family and for you, and now 1 billion of us stand together."

He continued:

"You've been with me every step of the way, through all the highs and the lows. This journey is our journey, and together, we've shown that there are no limits to what we can achieve.

"Thank you for believing in me, for your support, and for being past of my life. The best is yet to come, and we'll keep pushing, winning, and making history together."

Muller responded to the post, as tweeted by TeamCRonaldo:

"What a great performance"

Meanwhile, 24-time Grand Slam singles winner Djokovic chimed in:

"Congrats my friend"

Apart from Instagram (639 million) and YouTube (62 million), Cristiano Ronaldo also has 170 million subscribers on Facebook and 113 million on X (formerly called Twitter), with the remaining 16 million across other social media platforms.

---

Erling Haaland on cusp of breaking Cristiano Ronaldo scoring record

Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester City hitman Erling Haaland is on the cusp of breaking Cristiano Ronaldo's record of taking the fewest games to score 100 goals for a club.

The 39-year-old - who scored a record 900th goal for club and country during the September international break - needed 105 games to read a century of goals for his former club Real Madrid.

Haaland - making a sizzling start to the season - is up to 99 goals for Manchester City in 103 games following his brace in the 2-1 home win over Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Norwegian - who has scored in all four league games this season - has nine goals in four outings. He will break Ronaldo's record if he finds the back of the net in City's UEFA Champions League opener at home to reigning Serie A champions Inter Milan on Wednesday.