Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the most followed man on the planet, has remained silent all on fronts after Lionel Messi helped Argentina win the 2022 World Cup on Sunday afternoon.
Messi led Argentina to World Cup glory at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, beating the defending champions France 4-2 on penalties after an exhilarating 3-3 draw over 120 minutes.
Fans across the world are saying that Sunday's showdown between Argentina and France will go down in history as one of the best World Cup finals ever. However, Ronaldo appears to think otherwise.
Ronaldo - who has a combined following of 780million - has remained silent on social media. He has not taken Instagram, Twitter or Facebook to comment on the final. He has also refrained from publicly congratulating his rival Messi.
The 37-year-old came off the bench to replace Ruben Neves early in the second half with Portugal trailing 1-0 after Youssef En-Nesyri's opener. However, he failed to inspire a comeback.
Ronaldo also squandered a late chance after drilling a right-footed effort into goalkeeper Yassine Bounou's hands, which was among a string of failed Portugal opportunities.
Ronaldo was visibly upset after the game. The camera's captured the Portugal captain walking off in tears.
However, the opposite can be said for Messi. The 35-year-old scored Argentina's opening goal from the penalty spot and added another in the 108th minute of the game.
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He then scored Argentina's first penalty of the shootout and won the Golden Ball for his performances throughout the tournament.
Millions of fans, pundits, former footballers and celebrities took to social media after the World Cup final to congratulate Messi and his team for their achievements.
However, Ronaldo has remained silent. His last post on Instagram came last week. His last Tweet came over 10 days ago and his last Facebook post came eight days ago.
However, he did take to his Instagram story to share a video of himself working out, as he looks to stay in shape while finding a new club after leaving Manchester United.
Ronaldo has also stayed silent on the departure of Portugal's manager Fernando Santos following their dismal World Cup exit at the hands of Morocco.
Santos was axed following their 1-0 defeat by the African side to cap off a tension-filled tournament dominated by Ronaldo, who did not see eye-to-eye with his coach in Qatar.
Ronaldo's relationship with Santos turned sour after the former boss he decided to drop him for the knockout games against Switzerland and Morocco.
Fuel was added to the fire when Ronaldo's partner Georgina Rodriguez hit out at Santos for making 'the wrong decision' for benching him.
She wrote on Instagram: 'Today your friend and coach decided wrong. That friend for whom you have so many words of admiration and respect.
'The same one who, by getting you into the game, saw how everything changed, but it was too late. You cannot underestimate the best player in the world, his most powerful weapon.
'Nor can you stick up for someone who doesn't deserve it. Life teaches us lessons. Today we have not lost, we have learned.'
However, Ronaldo did take to social media after Portugal crashed out of the tournament to express his heartbreak.
Ronaldo broke his silence shortly after their game with Morcoo. He took to Instagram to say: 'Winning a World Cup for Portugal was the biggest and most ambitious dream of my career.
'Fortunately, I won many titles of international dimension, including Portugal, but putting our country's name on the highest foot in the World was my biggest dream.
'I fought for it. I fought hard for this dream. In the five appearances I scored in World Cups over 16 years, always by the side of great players and supported by millions of Portuguese; I gave my all. Leave it all out on the field. I never turned my face to the fight, and I never gave up on that dream.
