5 World Cup Footballers With The Highest Numbers Of Social Media Followers

Social media has become an important part of athletes’ lives. They can talk directly to their followers via posts and messages, and earn huge sums of money via endorsement deals. 

The two GOATS (Greatest of all time) of football Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi unveiled a campaign for Louis Vuitton on Instagram on the eve of the World Cup. Ronaldo’s post received over 30 million ‘likes’, and over 400 000 comments. The French luxury designer’s decision to use the two football greats is a good example of how important football stars’ reach on social media is taken by brands.

Messi and Ronaldo aren’t the only players who use their social media accounts to advertise brands and products, we list five players appearing at the World Cup finals with the biggest following on Instagram. 

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1 Cristiano Ronaldo – Portugal / Man United – 500 Million

The Manchester United striker recently attributed his charisma to being the most-followed person on Instagram. The Portuguese captain will appear in his fifth World Cup finals in Qatar and reportedly earns $2 million per social media post. The 37-year-old promotes cryptocurrency, wellness products, and news media on Instagram. 

2 Lionel Messi – Argentina / PSG – 379 Million

The diminutive Argentine number 10 has mesmerised the world with his natural talent for the beautiful game. Messi is the second most followed sportsperson on Instagram and has more followers on social media than the population of the entirety of South America, according to the Spanish newspaper Marca. The PSG player has interestingly partnered with the Hard Rock Cafe on Instagram. Messi will likely make his final World Cup appearance in Qatar and arguably has the best chance of lifting the trophy in 2022.

3 Neymar – Brazil / PSG – 183 Million

The Brazilian forward is set to appear in his third World Cup finals and says he can’t guarantee he’ll be at the next one. The PSG star is hugely popular in his native country and enjoyed success at Barcelona but is yet to win a major title with the national team. Neymar’s $27 million Puma deal in 2020 was the largest individual sports sponsorship in history.

4 Kylian Mbappe – France / PSG – 74 Million

Unlike the three men ahead of him on our list, Kylian Mbappe has a World Cup winners medal. The 23-year-old signed a new $647 million three-year deal with PSG to land the biggest-ever contract for a sportsperson. Mbappe is leading the next generation of world-class footballers and has partnered with sportswear giant Nike and luxury Swiss watchmaker Hublot. The France striker was the youngest player to adorn the cover of the EA Sports football video game “FIFA 21”.

5 Paulo Dybala – Argentina / AS Roma – 49.5 Million

Dybala recently left Italy’s most successful team Juventus to sign a three-year deal with Roma on a free transfer. The Argentine possesses striking good looks and coupled with his silky dribbling skills has garnered him the nickname “The Jewel”. He is an Adidas athlete and has endorsement deals with Skrill and Monster.