Messi vs Ronaldo: who is Faker’s favorite?

Rituraj Halder Published July 20, 2026

Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, T1’s iconic mid laner and widely regarded as the greatest player in League of Legends history, recently raised a lot of eyebrows among fans during an official media segment when asked to name the athlete he respects most.

The discussion originated from a polygraph interview video titled “Faker vs Chovy Lie Detector Test,” published by the official Esports World Cup (EWC) YouTube channel. During the segment, Gen.G mid laner Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon asked Faker: “Which player have you respected the most throughout your career?”

Faker responded directly, naming soccer icon “Cristiano Ronaldo.” Following his answer, the polygraph operator confirmed that the response registered as truthful on the lie detector. 

The expert monitoring the equipment also offered additional context regarding the reading, saying the answer was quite tricky as Faker clearly holds a lot of respect for many athletes and Ronaldo is one of them, so in a way, Faker tested the expert and equipment with the answer. 

But the answer soon raised some flags among the fans on social media.

Faker said Messi was his favourite

The answer made fans point towards a previous official feature shared by the @lolesports account on X (formerly Twitter). In that official LoL Esports Q&A profile graphic, Faker filled out a series of personal preference prompts alongside basic background details. 

Under the specific entry for “MY FAV SPORTS ATHLETE,” Faker wrote “Messi.” The handwritten questionnaire also highlighted several other personal details, including his favorite song (“Clair de Lune” by Debussy), his favorite foods (pork belly and hot pot), his favorite animal (cat), and his primary hobbies outside of competitive gaming (chess and reading).

Via: LOL Esports

Additionally, the profile recorded his answers to various fun binary choices, where he selected soccer over basketball, winter over summer, freezing time over reading minds, time travel over teleportation, and securing a pentakill in a loss over going 0/10 in a win.

While initial online discussions drew comparisons between naming Lionel Messi as his favorite sports athlete in the LoL Esports profile card and identifying Cristiano Ronaldo as a player he has respected throughout his career during the EWC polygraph test, both statements reflect slightly different questions and contexts.

Via: EWC

As noted by the polygraph expert during the EWC video segment, Faker’s admiration naturally extends to multiple elite figures across traditional sports. Expressing admiration for Ronaldo’s work ethic and career achievements does not contradict having personal appreciation for Messi, as both football legends represent the highest standard of athletic excellence in their field.

So in the end, we can say that while Chrisitano may be the athlete Faker respects the most, Messi could still be his favourite of all time. 

Featured image credit: EWC