World Cup 2022: Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi pictured together for Louis Vuitton ad

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been photographed together for a Louis Vuitton advert ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

In the image, which was snapped by American portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz, the two icons are playing a game of chess on top of two Louis Vuitton cases.

Ronaldo posted the photo on his Twitter account and it has already been retweeted over 100,000 times.

"Victory is a State of Mind. A long tradition of crafting trunks photographed by for @annieleibovitz for @LouisVuitton," his tweet said.

Messi is not on Twitter, but the Paris Saint-Germain forward posted the picture on his Instagram account and it has already received over 10 million likes.

The Argentine attacker and the Portugal forward have dominated football over the past 15 years, winning 12 Ballons d'or between them (seven for Leo, five for Cristiano).

But with Ronaldo aged 37 and Messi 35, both players could be appearing in their last World Cup.

Argentina kick off their campaign against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, with Portugal in action versus Ghana on Thursday.