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Instagram has revealed some of the stats on how its community embraced the World Cup, revealing that Cristiano Ronaldo gained the most new followers during the tournament.
According to the Facebook-owned social media platform, more than 272 million people on Instagram interacted with World Cup-related content during the tournament in Russia – with more than 3.2 billion interactions logged.
And despite going out of the tournament at the last 16 stage, Ronaldo picked up 5.8 million new followers on Instagram, taking his total to 135 million followers and placing him at the top of the follower growth chart.
He was followed by Brazil striker Neymar, who gained 5.1 million new followers, and compatriot Philipe Coutinho who earned 4.2 million new follows.
Argentina star Leo Messi was fourth on the list, with another Brazilian – Marcelo – in fifth. Young player of the tournament Kylian Mbappe from eventual winners France was sixth, with Gabriel Jesus, Paulo Dybala, James Rodriguez and Paul Pogba completing the top 10.
As for England, Golden Boot winner and captain Harry Kane was their best performer on Instagram, picking up 1.2 million new followers to take him past the six million mark.
Ronaldo’s domination also extended to the most popular posts of the tournament, with eight of the 10 most interacted with coming from the Portuguese – only Messi and Neymar managed to squeeze into the top 10 alongside him.
His most popular post showed him relaxing with his family after his country’s exit at the hands of Uruguay.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given their eventual triumph, France were the most discussed team, ahead of Mexico, hosts Russia and Iran. Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, England, Germany and Belgium all made the top 10.
Instagram also revealed the tournament was the subject of more than 11 million Stories over the course of the championships.
