Football players with the most social media followers worldwide 2023

As of February 28, 2023, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were the most followed football players on social media, with the former having a total of 832 million followers across all platforms. Meanwhile, four out of the ten most followed soccer players played for Paris Saint-Germain

Football on different online networks

As of 2023, football clubs and players received the most engagement from fans on Instagram. This Meta platform was home to 63 percent of the social media audience of football players and 34 percent of followers of football clubs. Furthermore, football clubs also saw high followings on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), and the China-based network Weibo.   

Football stars, social media sensations

In addition to being the most followed football players on social media, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have achieved other important milestones on online networks. As of April 2024, Cristiano Ronaldo did not only have the largest social media following in relation to other football players, but he was also the individual with the most Instagram followers in general, ranking second in total following only after Instagram’s official page. Messi ranked third after Ronaldo with 502 million followers on Instagram, placing him above celebrities such as Selena Gomez and Kylie Jenner on the Meta-owned platform. In addition, the most liked Instagram post on the platform as of April 2024 was of Lionel Messi and his teammates after winning the FIFA 2022 World Cup, which generated over 75 million likes. As of 2024, Messi was behind five of the top ten most popular posts of all time on Instagram.