The 2026 FIFA World Cup has triggered an unprecedented surge in Instagram followers for football stars, with Norway’s Erling Haaland emerging as the tournament’s biggest social media winner after gaining more than 31.8 million new followers during the competition, according to new data released by MyBettingSites.co.uk.
Key Highlights
- Erling Haaland gained 31.8 million Instagram followers, the highest of the tournament.
- Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha recorded the biggest percentage growth, soaring by 93,407.9%.
- Spain’s Lamine Yamal led follower gains after the semi-finals and final with nearly 4 million new followers.
- England’s Jude Bellingham finished third overall and second during the tournament’s closing stages.
- Spain topped national team follower growth after the final, while Norway led overall tournament gains.
The data, which tracked more than 1,200 players from June 8 to July 20, showed Haaland increased his Instagram following by 31,832,161, representing a 78.3 per cent rise to more than 72.4 million followers.
Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha finished second in total follower gains with 29.46 million new followers. However, his rise was the tournament’s most remarkable, recording an extraordinary 93,407.9 per cent increase after growing from just over 31,000 followers to nearly 29.5 million.
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England midfielder Jude Bellingham ranked third overall after adding 11.85 million followers, while Spain sensation Lamine Yamal finished fifth with 9.56 million new followers.
The report also revealed that Spain’s World Cup triumph significantly boosted the social media profiles of its players. Between the semi-finals and final alone, Yamal added 3.96 million followers, ahead of Bellingham’s 3.76 million and Haaland’s 2.89 million.
Spain striker Ferran Torres, who scored the winning goal in the World Cup final, gained more than one million followers during the tournament’s closing days, reflecting the immediate impact of standout performances on global social media audiences.
At the national team level, Norway recorded the highest overall Instagram follower growth with more than 34.2 million new followers, largely driven by Haaland’s popularity. Cape Verde finished second, followed by Argentina and Brazil.
Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson for MyBettingSites.co.uk said Haaland ultimately overtook Vozinha in total follower gains during the closing stages of the tournament, while the Cape Verde goalkeeper’s percentage growth remained unmatched.
The spokesperson also noted that the 2026 FIFA World Cup demonstrated how the tournament transformed relatively unknown players into global social media personalities, with several footballers recording follower growth of more than 1,000 per cent during the six-week competition.
