Cristiano Ronaldo officially the world's most 'liked' person

He is a player who rivals and fans love to hate, but Cristiano Ronaldo's online popularity has soared, the Portuguese footballer officially becoming the most followed person on Facebook.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates yet another goal for Real Madrid. (Getty) Source: Getty Images

Goals aren't the only thing the Real Madrid ace has racked up over the past few seasons, amassing 107,096,356 likes on the social media platform - he joined in 2009 - to overtake Colombian pop sensation Shakira as the most followed person in the world.

According to Facebook data published in the BBC, Ronaldo's account is the highest-ranked for an individual and the fourth-most popular on the social networking site, putting him ahead of the likes of Eminem, Rihanna and the club he plays for, Real Madrid.

A week out from the latest installment of El Clasico, the news is sure to give Ronaldo another edge in the bragging rights over his fierce rival Lionel Messi, who came in a paltry 13th with 78,000,000 likes, although that total put the Argentinian one place ahead of tween idol Justin Bieber, who's populairty appears to have been sullied by series of controversial incidents over the past few years. 

Ronaldo's popularity wanes slightly when you head over to Twitter, his 34 million followers putting him 13th behind the likes of Bieber, Barack Obama and Katy Perry.