Cristiano Ronaldo has surpassed Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe as the most influential footballer on Instagram ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
In the previous year, Ronaldo, a striker for Portugal, saw a 48% rise in followers.
According to researchers Nielsen Gracenote, he posts an average of more than $3.5 million in media value.
The most influential English player is Jadon Sancho, a teammate at Manchester United, while Gavi is the breakout star with a 5,165% increase in followers.
Rankings are based on Nielsen’s influencer assessment tool, which calculates media value by calculating total Instagram followers, follower growth, engagement rate, and average brand value per post.
It ranked the athletes who are predicted to compete in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.
On Instagram, Ronaldo has 480 million followers, while Argentina’s Messi has 360 million, a 38% increase in the past year, and generates $2.6 million in media value per post. Ronaldo has 480 million followers.
With an average salary of more than $1 million per post, Messi, Neymar, and Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain come in second, third, and fourth after Ronaldo.
The player with the largest increase in followers among the top 10 was Brazil’s Vinicius Junior, who scored the game-winning goal for Real Madrid against Liverpool in the Champions League final.
N’Golo Kante, a player from France, is eighth on the list and has the eighth-highest engagement rate (11%) of any player in the top 10.
With a following that has increased by more than 5000% to 6.2 million, Spain’s Gavi appears to be the next major social media sensation. His postings receive around 30% of the total engagement.
Raphinha and Antony, both from Brazil, are second and third in the rankings for emerging footballers thanks to significant increases in their fan bases following their summer signings to Barcelona and Manchester United, respectively.
With 11.7 million followers on their Facebook page, France is most likely to be the most prominent team on social media during the 2022 World Cup.
Brazil and Portugal, with 11.3 million and 10.3 million respectively, are edged out by this number. It’s noteworthy that 86% of Portugal’s supporters reside outside of the European Union.
With 8.5 million fans, England is in fourth place. Winger Sancho, who has 8.9 million followers, a rise of 21% over the previous year, and an admirable 8% engagement rate on posts, is their most important player.
Top 10 most influential footballers on Instagram at 2022 World Cup
| Player | Country | Club | Handle | Followers (m) | Value per post |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Man Utd | cristiano | 480 | $3,585,218 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | PSG | leomessi | 360 | $2,631,388 |
| Neymar | Brazil | PSG | neymarjr | 178 | $1,152,495 |
| Kylian Mbappe | France | PSG | k.mbappe | 72.5 | $1,173,157 |
| Vinicius Junior | Brazil | Real Madrid | vinijr | 23 | $685,120 |
| Karim Benzema | France | Real Madrid | karimbenzema | 58 | $489,239 |
| Paulo Dybala | Argentina | Roma | paulodybala | 49 | $491,547 |
| N’Golo Kante | France | Chelsea | nglkante | 14 | $525,178 |
| Paul Pogba | France | Juventus | paulpogba | 55 | $407,542 |
| Sergio Ramos | Spain | PSG | sergioramos | 53 | $368,639 |
Top 10 breakthrough footballers on Instagram
| Player | Country | Club | Handle | Followers (m) | Value per post |
| Gavi | Spain | Barcelona | pablogavi | 6.2 | $377,305 |
| Raphinha | Brazil | Barcelona | raphinha | 3 | $22,727 |
| Antony | Brazil | Man Utd | antony00 | 4.8 | $106,229 |
| Pedri | Spain | Barcelona | pedri | 7.3 | $255,212 |
| Rodrigo de Paul | Argentina | Atletico Madrid | rodridepaul | 5 | $206,983 |
| Rodrygo | Brazil | Real Madrid | rodrygogoes | 7.5 | $119,726 |
| Aurelien Tchouameni | France | Real Madrid | aurelientchm17 | 2.1 | $80,973 |
| Achraf Hakimi | Morocco | PSG | achrafhakimi | 10.1 | $133,187 |
| Dusan Vlahovic | Serbia | Juventus | vlahovicdusan | 1.7 | $118,691 |
| Darwin Nunez | Uruguay | Liverpool | darwin_n9 | 2.1 | $14,527 |
Top 10 most popular men’s national teams on Instagram
| Country | Handle | Followers (m) | % fans outside country |
| France | equipedefrance | 11.7 | 64.85 |
| Brazil | cbf_futebol | 11.5 | 35.73 |
| Portugal | portugal | 10.4 | 86.41 |
| England | england | 8.5 | 79.47 |
| Argentina | afaseleccion | 7.3 | 54.75 |
| Mexico | miseleccionmx | 5.9 | 47.46 |
| Germany | dfb_team | 4.9 | 72.84 |
| Spain | sefutbol | 4 | 75.71 |
| Morocco | equipedumaroc | 1.5 | 33.66 |
| Netherlands | onsoranje | 1.3 | 72.67 |
A number of young English players have made significant strides on social media, including Aaron Ramsdale, whose following has increased by an astounding 920% over the past 12 months after joining Arsenal, and Jack Grealish, who currently has more than five million followers.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Born on February 5, 1985, Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH ComM is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays forward for Premier League club Manchester United and captains the Portugal national team.
Ronaldo is recognized as one of the best players of all time and has earned the most European player honors with four European Golden Shoes and five Ballon d’Or titles. In his career, he has won 32 trophies, including the UEFA European Championship, five UEFA Champions Leagues, and seven league championships.
The most appearances (183), goals (140), and assists (42) in the Champions League, the most goals in the European Championship (14), the most international goals (117), and the most international appearances by a European are all held by Ronaldo.
Social Media Dominance
Cristiano Ronaldo became the first person to cross the 400 million Instagram followers mark.
Since he began playing football more than 20 years ago, Ronaldo has won over 33 championships while also gaining a sizable fan base.
Ronaldo is easily at the top of the list as the most prominent individual on all social media platforms, having more than 517 million followers.
Cristiano Ronaldo presents a dual persona of a fantastic footballer and a very wealthy individual. This draws in the general public as well as football aficionados.
Four key categories can be found in Cristiano’s social media feed: football, lifestyle, sponsored postings, and fitness.
Contrary to other footballers, whose social media profiles are mostly followed by their supporters, Ronaldo can attract a varied following by appealing to a variety of interests. Each of Ronaldo’s calculated posts addresses a particular segment of his enormous fanbase.
Ronaldo has a significant online following thanks to his talent as a football player. However, the Portuguese icon has broadened the sources of his influence to remain relevant at all times and to profit financially.
His followers now have extra reason to follow him because of the posts he has made about his family and way of life. Ronaldo has seized the chance to take use of the reach he can achieve thanks to the large following he enjoys across numerous platforms.
