World Cup 2022 players have over 2.5 billion followers on Instagram
Ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, bettingexpert.com has collected the Instagram followers of all the squad players, and it found that collectively, players have 2.5 billion followers on Instagram, which translates to potential earnings of 25 million dollars per post.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) is the most followed player with 496.5 million followers, translating to potential earning of nearly 5 million dollars per post.
Lionel Messi (Argentina) & Neymar (Brazil) are the second and third most followed players, with 373 million (potential earnings: 3.73 million dollars) & 181.9 million followers (1.81 million dollars), respectively
Their respective teams are also the most followed when all the players’ followings are combined (1. Portugal, 2. Argentina, 3. Brazil), but if players with over 50 million followers are excluded, Brazil (196 million) is the most followed team with Argentina (115 million) and Spain (106 million) in second and third place, respectively.
You can see the top 25 most followed players, as well as the most followed teams below:
MOST FOLLOWED PLAYERS
| Ranking | Name | Followers 15/11/2022 | Potential earnings per post | Team | Club |
| 1. | Cristiano Ronaldo | 496,585,283 | $4,965,853 | Portugal | Manchester United |
| 2. | Lionel Messi | 373,193,075 | $3,731,931 | Argentina | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 3. | Neymar | 181,891,522 | $1,818,915 | Brazil | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 4. | Kylian Mbappé | 73,297,205 | $732,972 | France | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 5. | Karim Benzema | 60,529,801 | $605,298 | France | Real Madrid |
| 6. | Paulo Dybala | 49,426,812 | $494,268 | Argentina | Roma |
| 7. | Gareth Bale | 48,434,516 | $484,345 | Wales | Los Angeles FC |
| 8. | Luis Suárez | 44,529,288 | $445,293 | Uruguay | Nacional |
| 9. | Dani Alves | 37,489,601 | $374,896 | Brazil | UNAM |
| 10. | Antoine Griezmann | 36,962,770 | $369,628 | France | Atlético Madrid |
| 11. | Robert Lewandowski | 30,860,141 | $308,601 | Poland | Barcelona |
| 12. | Eden Hazard | 27,158,655 | $271,587 | Belgium | Real Madrid CF |
| 13. | Luka Modrić | 25,667,883 | $256,679 | Croatia | Real Madrid |
| 14. | Vinícius Júnior | 24,398,140 | $243,981 | Brazil | Real Madrid |
| 15. | Thiago Silva | 20,125,113 | $201,251 | Brazil | Chelsea |
| 16. | Raphaël Varane | 20,017,926 | $200,179 | France | Manchester United |
| 17. | Kevin De Bruyne | 19,503,335 | $195,033 | Belgium | Manchester City F.C. |
| 18. | Gabriel Jesus | 19,301,327 | $193,013 | Brazil | Arsenal |
| 19. | Ángel Di María | 18,807,205 | $188,072 | Argentina | Juventus |
| 20. | Álvaro Morata | 18,462,918 | $184,629 | Spain | Atlético Madrid |
| 21. | Casemiro | 17,967,679 | $179,677 | Brazil | Manchester United |
| 22. | Memphis Depay | 15,882,299 | $158,823 | Netherlands | Barcelona |
| 23. | Jordi Alba | 14,837,048 | $148,370 | Spain | Barcelona |
| 24. | Marco Asensio | 14,721,042 | $147,210 | Spain | Real Madrid |
| 25. | Marc-André ter Stegen | 13,725,601 | $137,256 | Germany | Barcelona |
COLLECTIVE FOLLOWERS OF TEAMS
| Ranking | Team | SUM of followers 15/11/2022 | Potential earnings per post |
| 1. | Portugal | 543,105,857 | $5,431,059 |
| 2. | Argentina | 489,022,224 | $4,890,222 |
| 3. | Brazil | 377,900,137 | $3,779,001 |
| 4. | France | 232,218,471 | $2,322,185 |
| 5. | Spain | 102,041,802 | $1,020,418 |
| 6. | Uruguay | 88,859,392 | $888,594 |
| 7. | England | 88,369,642 | $883,696 |
| 8. | Germany | 85,827,579 | $858,276 |
| 9. | Belgium | 80,423,265 | $804,233 |
| 10. | Netherlands | 59,063,110 | $590,631 |
| 11. | Wales | 57,177,448 | $571,774 |
| 12. | Poland | 40,287,108 | $402,871 |
| 13. | Croatia | 37,543,986 | $375,440 |
| 14. | IR Iran | 37,498,142 | $374,981 |
| 15. | Morocco | 33,149,736 | $331,497 |
| 16. | Senegal | 24,872,109 | $248,721 |
| 17. | Mexico | 19,657,393 | $196,574 |
| 18. | USA | 12,334,674 | $123,347 |
| 19. | Denmark | 12,321,088 | $123,211 |
| 20. | Saudi Arabia | 10,503,292 | $105,033 |
| 21. | Korea Republic | 10,355,022 | $103,550 |
| 22. | Serbia | 9,214,046 | $92,140 |
| 23. | Switzerland | 9,081,286 | $90,813 |
| 24. | Tunisia | 8,297,606 | $82,976 |
| 25. | Japan | 6,881,074 | $68,811 |
| 26. | Canada | 6,849,335 | $68,493 |
| 27. | Ecuador | 5,098,832 | $50,988 |
| 28. | Cameroon | 4,277,240 | $42,772 |
| 29. | Ghana | 3,605,945 | $36,059 |
| 30. | Qatar | 2,811,931 | $28,119 |
| 31. | Costa Rica | 2,368,181 | $23,682 |
| 32. | Australia | 1,301,463 | $13,015 |
MOST FOLLOWED PLAYERS BY COUNTRY
| Team | Most followed player | Followers 15/11/2022 | Potential earnings per post | Club |
| Argentina | Lionel Messi | 373,193,075 | $3,731,931 | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Australia | Mitchell Langerak | 193,707 | $1,937 | Nagoya Grampus |
| Belgium | Eden Hazard | 27,158,655 | $271,587 | Real Madrid CF |
| Brazil | Neymar | 181,891,522 | $1,818,915 | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Cameroon | Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting | 1,138,879 | $11,389 | Bayern Munich |
| Cameroon | Georges-Kévin Nkoudou | 729,682 | $7,297 | Beşiktaş |
| Canada | Alphonso Davies | 5,107,765 | $51,078 | Bayern Munich |
| Costa Rica | Joel Campbell | 405,055 | $4,051 | León |
| Croatia | Luka Modrić | 25,667,883 | $256,679 | Real Madrid |
| Denmark | Christian Eriksen | 4,890,771 | $48,908 | Manchester United |
| Ecuador | Enner Valencia | 867,074 | $8,671 | Fenerbahçe |
| England | Harry Kane | 13,280,918 | $132,809 | Tottenham Hotspur |
| France | Kylian Mbappé | 73,297,205 | $732,972 | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Germany | Marc-André ter Stegen | 13,725,601 | $137,256 | Barcelona |
| Ghana | Thomas Partey | 1,081,462 | $10,815 | Arsenal |
| Iran | Sardar Azmoun | 5,103,394 | $51,034 | Bayer Leverkusen |
| Japan | Yūto Nagatomo | 1,282,377 | $12,824 | FC Tokyo |
| Korea Republic | Son Heung-min | 8,175,777 | $81,758 | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Mexico | Guillermo Ochoa | 2,625,781 | $26,258 | América |
| Morocco | Achraf Hakimi | 10,529,600 | $105,296 | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Netherlands | Memphis Depay | 15,882,299 | $158,823 | Barcelona |
| Poland | Robert Lewandowski | 30,860,141 | $308,601 | Barcelona |
| Portugal | Cristiano Ronaldo | 496,585,283 | $4,965,853 | Manchester United |
| Qatar | Bassam Al-Rawi | 1,291,445 | $12,914 | Al-Duhail |
| Saudi Arabia | Yasser Al-Shahrani | 1,626,777 | $16,268 | Al-Hilal |
| Senegal | Sadio Mané | 12,616,952 | $126,170 | Bayern Munich |
| Serbia | Luka Jović | 2,417,848 | $24,178 | Fiorentina |
| Spain | Álvaro Morata | 18,462,918 | $184,629 | Atlético Madrid |
| Switzerland | Xherdan Shaqiri | 2,739,096 | $27,391 | Chicago Fire |
| Tunisia | Ali Maâloul | 1,997,316 | $19,973 | Al Ahly |
| Uruguay | Luis Suárez | 44,529,288 | $445,293 | Nacional |
| USA | Christian Pulisic | 6,129,882 | $61,299 | Chelsea |
| Wales | Gareth Bale | 48,434,516 | $484,345 | Los Angeles FC |
The earnings per post were calculated by an accepted industry standard of average earnings per post amongst influencers on the basis of their following-on average, 10 dollars per 1000 followers (Schaeffer, 2022); these figures might differ in reality, depending on different factors & individual negotiations.
Source: Bettingexpert.com
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Abeeb Lekan Sodiq is a Managing Editor & Writer at theafricandream.net. He is as well a Graphics Designer and also known as Arakunrin Lekan.
