Lionel Messi is arguably one of the greatest names in the sporting world. Messi has achieved everything there is achieved in soccer, and is currently enjoying the dusk of his career. Recently, he made his move to Inter Miami from PSG and had the world in awe of him.

During his first match for Inter Miami, names such as LeBron James, Serena Williams, and even Kim Kardashian headed to the stadium to catch a glimpse of Messi playing. And the FIFA World Cup winning captain made sure to end things in an iconic manner. However, just moments after aweing James, and Williams, Messi surpassed another American sports GOAT.

Which American sports GOAT did Lionel Messi surpass and in which fashion?

Breaking records has been a regular task for Messi, and he again proved it right, when he shot past one of the greatest athletes in a ridiculous fashion. Former football player and professional wrestler Dwayne Johnson is one of the most well-known names in the world.

Till now, Dwayne Johnson was the second most followed athlete on Instagram, until Messi decided it was his time. As soon as his iconic freekick against Cruz Azul connected, Messi’s Instagram numbers soared as well. He shot to second place, just behind another soccer legend, Cristiano Ronaldo. The number 7 from Portugal rules the list with 585 million followers.

It was a tremendous moment of pride for Messi. Johnson is one of the most well-known and popular names in the sports and entertainment world, and surpassing him means a lot. Now done with Cruz Azul, Lionel Messi and Inter Miami are now looking for their next challenge in Atlanta United.

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Fans never expected Messi to make a move out of Barcelona, but he did. His first transfer to PSG raised a lot of eyebrows, and then his second move to Miami made him the talk of the town. Months ago, Messi won the FIFA World Cup against France and is now living the time of his life.

Lionel Messi’s star-power helped Inter Miami off the pitch

Similar to what Cristiano Ronaldo did with Al-Nassr, Messi’s stardom did the same with Inter Miami. Prior to the Argentinian forward joining the MLS team, Inter Miami had 1 million followers. However, as soon as Messi joined, the team shot to a total of 11.8 million followers on Instagram.

This feat turned the statistics haywire and made Miami the fifth-highest-followed American sports team. Ronaldo had done the same with Al-Nassr. Before CR7 joined the Saudi Arabian team, it had around 800k followers. However, after the Portuguese captain made his move, the club shot to around 2.5 million followers, and now boasts 15.9 million followers.

Watch This Story: The Evolution of Dwayne Johnson

Going at this rate, do you think Messi will surpass Ronaldo’s social media record? Let us know in the comments.