A new study has claimed that your answer to one of football’s biggest debates can reveal more than just your sporting preference.
Researchers found that people who favor Argentine soccer icon Lionel Messi tend to have more liberal political views, while those who favor Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo are more likely to lean conservative. The results were based on a survey of 10,661 respondents in 26 countries.
The study, titled Political identity beyond politics: The Messi-Ronaldo preference across 26 countrieswas carried out by researchers from universities in Singapore and Spain.
According to the authors, political ideology emerged as the strongest predictor of whether a person preferred Messi or Ronaldo, even after accounting for factors such as age, demographics, personality traits, media consumption habits and cognitive abilities.
The researchers found that people with more liberal views were generally more likely to favor Messi, while conservative respondents tended to favor Ronaldo.
They also reported that higher levels of authoritarianism, self-esteem and consumption of short-form video news were associated with stronger support for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
For the uninitiated, Messi and Ronaldo have dominated world football for almost two decades, winning multiple Ballon d’Or awards and dividing fans into rival camps over who deserves the title of greatest footballer of all time.
According to the researchers, the correlation between political beliefs and football preferences was most pronounced among younger respondents. The effect gradually weakened with age and became statistically insignificant among older groups.
The survey did not suggest that all Messi supporters are liberal or that every Ronaldo fan is conservative. Instead, researchers said the findings reflected broader statistical trends observed across the countries studied.
Neither Messi nor Ronaldo have publicly commented on the investigation.
