Fans have worked out the hidden meaning behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's internet-breaking picture and it's genius

Fans have worked out the hidden meaning behind the internet-breaking picture featuring Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

While there's a mutual respect between the pair of them, we don't tend to see Messi and Ronaldo together unless it's on the pitch or in award ceremonies.

However, the two have both shared the same image as part of a partnership with fashion giants Louis Vuitton.

The legendary duo are seen playing chess on a Louis Vuitton briefcase and both wrote the caption, "Victory is a State of Mind. A long tradition of crafting trunks photographed by @annieleibovitz for @louisvuitton."

Across both accounts, it's been liked 24 million times. But while it's for a campaign and the two will have been paid a pretty penny for the advertising, some have dug deep on the surreal snap.

The 'LV' briefcase was part of the 2018 World Cup in Russia and saw the trophy presented in it for the opening fixture and final.

With Messi and Ronaldo not getting any younger, this is quite possibly their last chance to win the World Cup and many believe everything points towards a showdown between the two titans of football in an Argentina-Portugal final in Qatar.

The fact they are playing chess on the briefcase that holds the World Cup essentially represents the battle to cement their place as the greatest of all time.

In part of his explosive interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV, Ronaldo talked about his relationship with Messi and had nothing but positive things to say about the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner.

He said: "Amazing player is magic, top… As a person, we share the stage 16 years, imagine, 16 years. we share. So, I have great relationship with him. I'm not friend of him in terms of, what I mean friend is the guy who was with you in your house, speaking on the phone, no, but it's like a teammate.

“He’s a guy that I really respect the way he always speak about me. Even his wife or my wife, my girlfriend, they always respect and they're from Argentina. My girlfriend is from Argentina. So good. What I am going to say about Messi? A great guy who does great things for football.”