Global fan frenzy: Most Followed Clubs Ranked in 2026 Study
A new 2026 study has ranked the 25 most followed clubs in world football, revealing that several teams command over 100 million followers across X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, with only one non‑European side breaking the continental dominance. The ranking also highlights that five of the top ten clubs are from the English Premier League.
Grey Whitebloom’s journalism path
After completing a degree in Maths and Physics at UCL, Grey Whitebloom, PM GMT+1, began his journalism career. He started as an intern at 90min and has worked across a wide range of departments for the past five years, from fast‑paced news articles to in‑depth feature research. During his final two years at 90min, he specialised in SEO content.
Grey now serves as a supporting editor at GiveMeSport, which gives Us a platform to develop longer‑form evergreen pieces. While most of his output covers the Premier League, Champions League and England national team, he also contributes to the evergreen team at GIVEMESPORT.
Club follower rankings
The 2026 study ranked the 25 most followed clubs in world football, showing that several teams command more than 100 million followers across X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. It also shows how clubs Follow demographic trends, with more than a quarter of Facebook users over 45 and TikTok’s largest audience aged 18 to 24.
Five of the ten clubs with the largest social media followings are from the English Premier League, underscoring the league’s digital reach. Only one club from outside Europe appears in the top fifteen, emphasizing continental dominance.
Flamengo is the sole non‑European side in the top fifteen, having overtaken Al‑Nassr after a 7.8 % increase in total followers. The majority of its audience comes from Instagram, where it boasts over 25 million users. AC Milan’s fanbase in the US grew by 50 % and overall interest in Serie A rose 27 % in America, according to the study. The seven‑time European champions added more than seven million followers in the past year, while Inter Milan remains the only Serie A club never to have been relegated.
Atletico Madrid’s former owner Jesus Gil, who died before the social‑media age, is remembered for his flamboyant antics, while current manager Diego Simeone maintains a comparatively tame online presence. The club’s former captain has driven the team to two league titles, two Champions League finals and more than 90 million social media followers. Tottenham Hotspur commands over 40 million TikTok followers, the highest among Premier League clubs, thanks to creative, humorous content. Son Heung‑min’s popularity attracted South Korean fans, yet the club’s official Korean X page has fewer than 60,000 followers, and Arsenal’s recent league triumph and Champions League final appearance have boosted its fanbase despite a January 2024 Salt Bae incident involving manager Mikel Arteta, with Bukayo Saka further enhancing the club’s online appeal.
Following the 2022 BlueCo takeover, Chelsea owner Todd Boehly’s online activity, including a Twitter poll and a liked article about Marc Cucurella, drew scrutiny. Manager Graham Potter later remarked that Boehly’s actions did not reflect his understanding of social media. Bayern Munich supports almost 4,000 official fan clubs worldwide, and new signing Harry Kane visited a small Bavarian fan club in Kirchweidach, engaging with locals and schoolchildren. Former Juventus president Gianni Agnelli claimed the club’s lack of a city name boosted its national popularity, a claim backed by the Agnelli family’s FIAT funding, while Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, likened to a national symbol by Mohamed Farag Amer, continues to drive the club’s global social media growth even after his departure earlier this summer.