Top 20 most-followed clubs on social media revealed as CR7 effect takes hold

THE most well-followed football clubs in the world on social media have been revealed.

The 467th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post has revealed the top 20 clubs from around the globe based on their followers from major social media platforms.

In the age of instant information, supporting your football club is no longer simply done by buying a ticket and attending a match.

And while match-going fans remain the core base of support for teams week-in-week-out, many fans also follow their clubs purely online.

This has allowed for fans from all over the world to follow how their favourite team is doing.

Mega clubs such as Real Madrid and Barcelona naturally rank high in the list.

Meanwhile, some clubs' social media presence has been massively boosted by the introduction of superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Below we take a look at how the top 20 looks this year and how they have their follower base has grown since 2023.

As expected, Champions League winners Real Madrid have taken the top spot with a colossal 410.9 million followers across Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and X.

The Spanish giants have seen their following grow by 48.4m since last year, more than any other team, any have the most on any social media page.

Rivals Barcelona come in second with 360.7m followers, with 18.4m new followers since 2023.

Barca rank second on every social media except for TikTok, where Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham rank in second and third respectively.

England's first club on the list is Manchester United, with 216.3m followers on social media and 10.2m added since last year.

They are the final club with more than 200m followers to their name.

Fourth place PSG have been heavily hit by the loss of Messi and now Kylian Mbappe, and are one of only two teams along with Monaco to have lost followers from the top 100 clubs.

PSG have lost 2.7m followers on their pages but still boast a count of 184.1m overall.

Behind them are Manchester City, who climbed above Juventus into fifth and now have a total of 158.4m followers after 27.5m in growth.

Liverpool narrowly outdo Chelsea with 144.5m followers to 141.7m, with the Reds also bossing the Blues on every platform except for Facebook.

Bayern Munich come in next with 137.1m, while Arsenal complete the top ten with 102.4m followers and the last club to climb into the 100+ club.

Tottenham can expect to join that club next year if they match their growth of this year, with 12.8m added to bring their total follow count to 96.4m.

Italian duo AC and Inter Milan rank 12th and 13th with 68.8m and 61.8m respectively, putting them ahead of Atletico Madrid who have 60.4m.

The shock inclusion in the list if we consider only the club itself is Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr.

Ronaldo's addition to the team has seen it's social media followers explode to 54.3m in total, with 42.7m of that figure coming from Instagram and TikTok.

However, it is Messi's introduction to Inter Miami which has seen the most profound growth for any club in the world at 1,348 per cent.

David Beckham's MLS franchise has grown to 33.4m followers, 31.1m of which have followed since last year, nine million more than those who hit the follow button under the Al-Nassr name.

However, Miami's total is only enough for 23rd in the overall list, though another year of Messi should see them break into the top 20 list.

Brazil giants Flamengo rank 16th with 54.3m followers, putting them ahead of Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund who have 52.9m.

Hailing from Egypt, Al-Ahly are the only club from Africa who make the list with 51.1m followers.

Turkish Super Lig champions Galatasaray rank 19th in the list with 45.1m followers, while Jose Mourinho's old club Roma rank 20th with 36.4m.

An improved rate of growth compared to Brazilian outfit Corinthians, 7.1m to 3.2m, saw Roma snatch a place in the top 20 for themselves.

Scottish giants Celtic prop up the top 100 with 4.8m followers.

Other English clubs in the top 100; Leicester (22.7m), West Ham (17.5), Aston Villa (16m), Newcastle (13.4m), Everton (13.2m), Wolves (10.6m), Brighton (8.3m), Southampton (7.4m), Crystal Palace (6.3m), Leeds (5.4m) and Watford (5.2m), show the strong fandom of the English pyramid.