Messi's double win over Ronaldo

There is no denying that Lionel Messi has had a transformative impact on Inter Miami and Major League Soccer (MLS) in general, after moving to Inter Miami in July this year. The incredible effect brought by the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has completely transformed Inter Miami, not just the locker room.

It's worth noting that Apple added about 110,000 new U.S. subscribers to its MLS Season Pass service on the day Messi made his Inter Miami debut, a digital TV service that streams all MLS games.

That represents a 1,700% increase, and is the largest increase ever recorded in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Europe. Inter Miami has also seen revenue rise to a record $120 million by 2023, more than double what they reported 12 months ago, and is now on track to surpass $200 million.

The "hotness" of Inter Miami thanks to the Argentine star is even more clearly demonstrated through the latest statistical results showing that Inter Miami is the most searched sports team in the world in 2023 via Google search engine.

The second place in the Top 10 most searched sports teams in the world in 2023 on Google is the Los Angeles Lakers, a basketball club in the American professional basketball league (NBA). Meanwhile, the third place belongs to Al Nassr, the team where Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo is playing. It is worth noting that Ronaldo moved to Al Nassr to play earlier this year.

It is true that Al Nassr has had Ronaldo for longer than Inter Miami owned the 2022 World Cup champion, but in the end, Al Nassr still "breathes in the smoke" of Inter Miami in terms of the number of searches on Google.

Meanwhile, sharing fourth and fifth place are Man City, Pep Guardiola's team that just won the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup, and the Miami Heat basketball team.

Along with Inter Miami, Al Nassr and Man City, there are two other football clubs appearing in the Top 10 most searched sports teams in the world in 2023 on Google: Al Hilal (ranked 7th) and Dortmund (ranked 8th). The bottom position belongs to the hockey team Boston Bruins.

Even more noteworthy is that Messi himself surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo for the first time in terms of the number of searches on Google. Specifically, the Argentine star Messi leads the ranking of the most searched players on this platform in 2023. CR7 appears in second place.

Google has released its Top 5 most searched football players since 1999. Cristiano Ronaldo is the most prominent. Ronaldo first appeared in the Top 5 in 2004, in second place - just behind former England player David Beckham, who topped the rankings for 6 consecutive years.

CR7 finished second in 2005 and 2006, behind Ronaldinho in both years. The Portuguese star reached the top in 2007 and remained there for 16 consecutive years, until 2022.

Thus, the first and only time Messi surpassed Ronaldo on Google was in 2023. The number 10 of the Argentina and Inter Miami team entered the Top 5 in 2007, in 4th place. Messi repeated this position in 2008. From 2009 to 2022, Messi was only second and always behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

Most Searched Players on Google since 1999
1999 – David Beckham
2000 – David Beckham
2001 – David Beckham
2002 – David Beckham
2003 – David Beckham
2004 – David Beckham
2005 – Ronaldinho
2006 – Ronaldinho
2007 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2008 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2009 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2010 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2011 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2012 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2013 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2014 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2015 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2016 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2017 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2018 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2019 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2020 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2021 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2022 – Cristiano Ronaldo
2023 – Lionel Messi