Lionel Messi birthday: Why Cristiano Ronaldo fans are angry with Guinness World Records for social media post

Joe Wright

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Lionel Messi birthday: Why Cristiano Ronaldo fans are angry with Guinness World Records for social media post image

Lionel Messi celebrated his 37th birthday on June 24, 2024, although he may not have had much of an opportunity to throw a party.

The Inter Miami star is on Copa America duty with Argentina and, with their next Group A game against Chile coming up Tuesday, June 25, Messi's focus is very much on winning the tournament for the second edition in a row.

Social media was awash with posts paying tribute to the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward, but one in particular caused something of a diplomatic row with fans of Messi's longtime rival, Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Sporting News explains how a simple birthday message led to plenty of Ronaldo fans becoming very cross indeed.

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Lionel Messi birthday: Why Cristiano Ronaldo fans are angry with Guinness World Records

Messi received millions of social media posts wishing him a happy birthday when he turned 37 on Monday, June 24, 2024.

Some were simple good wishes; others recognised the astonishing career achievements of the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner.

One, from the official Guinness World Records X account, read: "Happy birthday to Lionel Messi" with a goat emoji. The post also listed three of the Argentina captain's achievements: most Ballon d'Or wins, most goals scored in a calendar year and the most-liked post on Instagram.

Naturally, Ronaldo fans were not happy — and not just because of the suggestion that Messi, not the all-time men's international goalscorer, might be the GOAT of world football. Many of them were simply angry that the GWR account had not wished a happy birthday to Ronaldo.

When one X user asked why Ronaldo had not received the same treatment, GWR replied: "cos it's not his birthday."

Presumably, Ronaldo's supporters were referring to his birthday on February 5, and the fact the GWR account did not acknowledge his special day. It appears that forgetting this date was borderline unforgiveable, regardless of how many times Guinness World Records have honoured Ronaldo's finest career achievements.

MORE: Messi vs. Ronaldo all-time career stats

Is Cristiano Ronaldo older than Lionel Messi? Age of football superstars

Ronaldo is roughly 2 1/2 years older than Messi.

Ronaldo was born on February 5, 1985 — making him exactly seven years older than Neymar — while Messi was born on June 24, 1987. That means Ronaldo is 39, while Messi is 37.

Both players made their senior football debuts at the age of 16: Ronaldo in 2002, and Messi a year later.

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.