The 2026 FIFA World Cup has given the world stunning goals, historic results, and more than a few upsets. It has also quietly rewritten the social media playbook for football, turning relative unknowns into global names overnight.
A study by MyBettingSites.co.uk tracked the Instagram accounts of over 1,200 players through the group stage, monitoring follower changes in real time. The findings confirm what most people already sensed watching the tournament unfold: the biggest winner on social media was not a superstar. It was a 40-year-old goalkeeper from a nation of 525,000 people.
Vozinha: The Biggest Social Media Story of the Tournament
Before the World Cup, Vozinha had just over 31,000 Instagram followers. By the end of the group stage, he had gained more than 26 million new ones. 
This number isn’t a typo. It outpaced the combined gains of several global football icons during the same period. For context: a player who began the tournament barely known outside Cape Verde ended the group stage with a following larger than most established Premier League stars.
The reason is obvious to anyone who watched. His man-of-the-match performance in the 0-0 draw against Spain; eight saves, including a one-on-one stop against Lamine Yamal, introduced him to an audience that had no idea he existed. His follower growth also translated into tangible commercial value, with reports indicating that the price per sponsored post on his account increased significantly following the tournament spotlight.
SEE ALSO: World Cup 2026 Winner Prediction: Top 5 Teams Most Likely to Lift the Trophy
Messi and Ronaldo Still Cannot Be Stopped
Even at the top of the mountain, the two most followed footballers in the world kept climbing. Lionel Messi added over 4.5 million followers during the group stage. Cristiano Ronaldo added over 4.2 million. Ronaldo remains the most followed active player at the tournament, with a following approaching 670 million.
Data from Upfluence Studies confirms that both players had been leading football’s social media space long before the first ball was kicked in June. The World Cup simply accelerated what was already happening: more eyes, more moments, more reasons for casual fans around the world to follow the accounts they had been meaning to follow.
The New Names Breaking Through
Beyond the established stars, the tournament has minted a new generation of social media presences. Brazil’s Douglas Santos saw his follower count grow by approximately 1,200 per cent, which is one of the largest percentage gains of any player in the study. Curaçao’s Eloy Room, who briefly held the record as the oldest player to appear in a nation’s World Cup debut before Vozinha broke it, also saw sharp growth. Mexico’s Gilberto Mora and Japan’s Keito Nakamura similarly climbed rapidly, driven by standout performances that caught global attention.
For most of these players, the formula was the same: one game, one moment, one clip going viral, and suddenly millions of people are searching your name and hitting follow.
SEE ALSO: Cape Verde’s Unforgettable Journey at the 2026 World Cup
Who Leads the Country Ranking
When the data is aggregated by national team rather than individual player, Cape Verde topped the list for total follower growth across the squad. Vozinha accounted for most of it, but teammates like Sidny Lopes Cabral also saw noticeable increases.
Brazil came in second for squad-wide growth, followed by Argentina and Portugal, all three driven by household names already carrying enormous audiences into the tournament.
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