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Football is amongst the most followed sports on social media. Ever since the social media revolution, the number of followers and interactions each team has on social media as if the field wasn't enough, has become another ground for competition for the various teams. Moreover, due to the omnipresence of social media, it has become extremely important for sports clubs to engage with fans across all major platforms, in order to gather a bigger audience to expand the brand value of the teams and eventually monetize the audience.
A certain club might be stronger than another club on the field, but the other might have a bigger fan following on social media. So, here is a list of the top 10 most followed football clubs across all social media platforms.
*Note: Social Media considered are Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
#10 Manchester City
Instagram: 6.1 Million
Facebook: 31 Million
Twitter: 5.7 Million
Combined: 42.8 Million
The purchase of the club by Sheikh Mansour and the club's recent trophies has increased the popularity of Manchester City remarkably and is now the 10th most followed club in World football. They are still quite a lot behind their city rivals Manchester United but are looking forward to changing the condition under Pep Guardiola.
#9 Juventus FC
Instagram: 8.7 Million
Facebook: 30 Million
Twitter: 5.84 Million
Combined: 44.5 Million
33-time Serie A Champions, Juventus has the largest fan base in Italy and one of the largest Worldwide. Juventus is known for performing consistently well, both on the national and continental level, which has remarkably increased their popularity during the last few years. Due to a large fanbase, they have a high demand for tickets in the games held away from Turin.
#8 Liverpool
Instagram: 5.4 Million
Facebook: 30 Million
Twitter: 9.5 Million
Combined: 44.9 Million
With one of the oldest and most loyal supporters in the world, Liverpool is the 8th most followed club on social media. With 5 Champions League trophies and 18 League titles, Liverpool is one of the most successful English teams but has been really struggling of late to win any silverware. Nevertheless, since the arrival of Jurgen Klopp, they are playing some really entertaining football and are looking to change that soon.
#7 Paris Saint Germain
Instagram: 11.2 Million
Facebook: 33 Million
Twitter: 1.4 Million
Combined: 50.2 Million
Currently sitting at the top of the Ligue 1 table, PSG is one of the most exciting teams in Europe right now and will be looking forward to winning the Champions League this term. They have a total of 50.2 million followers on all social media platforms combined, which is growing rapidly since the arrival of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
#6 Bayern Munich
Instagram: 11.6 Million
Facebook: 43 Million
Twitter: 4.2 Million
Combined: 58.8 Million
The most successful German side of all time is also the 6th most followed side in the World. Their trip to China and signing of a major Bundesliga TV deal with Fox sports has certainly increased their popularity and has seen lots of growth on their social media accounts recently. They also have World Cup winners like Thomas Muller, Mats Hummels, Manuel Neuer amongst their ranks, who are their biggest assets for marketing.
#5 Arsenal
Instagram: 10.6 Million
Facebook: 37 Million
Twitter: 12.8 Million
Combined: 60.4 Million
Arsenal is on a bit of collapse of late, with all their main players showing the desire to leave the club, but that hasn't affected their social media reach, which makes it the 5th most followed football team in the world. They are quite popular with the Asian and African football fans, who comprise a large chunk of their fan base.
#4 Chelsea
Instagram: 10.8 Million
Facebook: 47 Million
Twitter: 11.4 Million
Combined: 69.2 Million
The Blues has grown into a massive club after the arrival of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in the boardroom and is the 2nd most followed English side on the list, only second to Manchester United. A number of Premier League titles and Champions League triumph in 2012, has helped them grow in popularity charts.
#3 Manchester United
Instagram: 20.4 Million
Facebook: 73 Million
Twitter: 16.9 Million
Combined: 110.3 Million
With 20 League titles, Manchester United is the most successful and the most followed English Club across social media. The signings of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2016 has helped to increase their fan base and brand value. They are struggling since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, but that hasn't affected their popularity amongst their fans.
#2 Barcelona
Instagram: 54.4 Million
Facebook: 103 Million
Twitter: 27.2 Million
Combined: 184.6 Million
Until recently, they dominated social media with the maximum number of followers. The departure of Neymar has been a great set back to their popularity. But now with the signings of Phillipe Coutinho and Oussama Dembele and their excellent performance in the La Liga - they are sitting at the top of the La Liga table - they look set to regain both their social media and La Liga crowns.
#1 Real Madrid
Instagram: 54.4 Million
Facebook: 106 Million
Twitter: 28.7 Million
Combined: 189.1 Million
After being 2nd in terms of popularity on social media for a long period, Real Madrid finally beat Barcelona and take the social media crown. Their popularity skyrocketed after they retained their Champions League in 2016-2017 along with winning the La Liga.They owe their popularity a lot to Cristiano Ronaldo, who is currently the most followed athlete on the Instagram.
