Euro 2016: Cristiano Ronaldo became king of Europe and social media after tournament triumph

CRISTIANO RONALDO became king of Europe and social media in one swift tournament.

For Euro 2016 is officially the most interactive sporting event EVER.

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Ron, 31, was the most talked about star on the planet, dominating news and topics on Facebook and Instagram.

Online users gushed an astonishing 1.42BILLION likes, comments and posts relating to this year's competition.

And 215million of these were dished out during Sunday's showdown between France and Portugal.

Winning skipper Ronaldo was also involved in the highest hitting moment on Facebook, when he lifted the trophy to finally add an international honour to his stellar list of achievements.

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And the Real Madrid superstar monopolised Instagram for the most liked photo (2m), with an emotional celebration snap. Wales ace and club pal Gareth Bale came second with 887,000 for a picture of his heroic squad's parade through Cardiff.

Ronaldo had his heart broken when he was forced off in the final after just 25 minutes.

West Ham's Dimitri Payet clashed into the 3-goal ace and despite Ronaldo's desperation to play on, he left the pitch in tears on a stretcher.

The injury was the fourth highest engaging moment on Facebook during the final.

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But his Portugal team-mates dug deep and substitute Eder struck in extra-time to finally crown their talisman as Euro royalty.

His roller coaster game made him the most discussed player in the final on Facebook on 53 per cent.

Fellow winning stars Pepe (10 per cent), Nani (seven per cent) and Ricardo Queresma (five per cent) stole little of his attention, while six per cent of users talked about Payet.

Euro 2016 Facebook and Instagram Stats

The top five most discussed players in the final on Facebook globally:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo - 53 per cent

2. Pepe - ten per cent

3. Nani - seven per cent

4. Dimitri Payet - six per cent

5. Ricardo Quaresma - five per cent

Most discussed Portuguese and French players on Instagram:

Portuguese:

1. Cristiano

2. Ricardoquaresmaoficia

3. Luisnani

4. D2anilo

5. Official_pepe

6. Cedricsoares41

7. F6nte

8. Joaomoutinho8

9. Fabio_coentrao

10. Andrefgomes30

French:

1. Paulpogba

2. Antogriezmann

3. Payetdimitri27

4. Martial_9

5. Raphaelvarane

6. Blaisematuidiofficiel

7. Koscielnu_official6

8. King_coman11

9. Bencostil

10. Yohancabaye___7

The top five moments with the highest engagement or interaction on Facebook during the final:

1. Ronaldo lifts the trophy

2. Éder’s goal

3. Final whistle

4. Ronaldo goes off injured

5. Kick off

The most liked Instagram photos, per national team and country:

1. cristiano – Portugal - - 2M likes

2. garethbale11 – Wales - - 887K likes

3. paulpogba – France - - 487K likes

4. m10_official – Germany - - 475K likes

5. _rl9 – Poland - - 305K likes

6. waynerooney – England - - 179K likes

7. marcbartra – Spain - - 169K likes

8. bonuccileo19 – Italy - - 97.6K likes

9. kevindebruyne – Belgium - - 89.2K likes

10. shaqirixherdan – Switzerland - - 74.8K likes