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FIFA World Cup 2026: Argentina Outpaces Spain in Digital Growth, but Mexico Leads Social Media Follower Gains During the Tournament

• France, Brazil, Portugal, England and Argentina are the five national teams with the largest digital fan bases in the world.

• Mexico recorded the highest follower growth during the tournament. Together, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Portugal and France accounted for 45% of all new followers gained globally throughout the competition.

• Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) represent nearly 50% of total combined followers, while South America records the highest average follower base among teams affiliated with the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL).

São Paulo, July 21, 2026 – Following the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup 2026 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, IBOPE Repucom, the sports marketing research division of the IBOPE Group, has released the second edition of its 2026 Global National Teams Digital Ranking, a study that maps the follower volume of 60 national teams across their official Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok accounts, comparing their digital presence before the start of the tournament with the scenario immediately following the World Cup Final.

France (59.3 million followers), Brazil (53.6 million), Portugal (48.5 million), England (47.8 million) and Argentina (39.6 million) are the five national football teams with the largest follower bases worldwide. Together, they account for nearly 250 million followers, representing 43% of the 580 million subscriptions recorded across all official social media platforms analyzed.

Since the June 2026 edition of the ranking, the 60 national teams analyzed have collectively gained more than 82 million new followers across their official profiles. The TOP 5 fastest-growing national teams during the period were Mexico (8.3M), Argentina (8M), Brazil (7.2M), Portugal (6.7M) and France (6.7M). Together, they accounted for 45% of all new subscriptions during the period, representing 36.9 million new followers.

The national teams with the highest growth

Mexico, one of the host nations of this year’s FIFA World Cup, delivered the strongest performance among all national teams analyzed. The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) added 8.3 million new followers across its official social media channels, with 49% of that growth coming from TikTok. With this result, the Mexican national team, ranked fourth overall, now has a combined total of 39.2 million followers across its accounts, sitting just 430,000 followers behind the fifth-ranked team, Argentina.

Argentina, runner-up at the FIFA World Cup 2026, recorded the second-largest digital growth among all national teams. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) gained approximately 8 million new followers, with 45% of that increase generated through Instagram. Argentina also stood out on TikTok, adding 3.4 million followers, representing a 90% increase in its audience on the platform, the highest growth rate among the ten largest national teams featured in the study.

Brazil recorded the third-largest growth during the period, gaining approximately 7.2 million new followers, a 16% increase in its digital audience. Instagram accounted for 57% of this result, contributing over 4 million new followers.

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) remains one of the world’s leading digital forces in football. The organization holds the largest Instagram account among national football teams, with 27 million followers; the largest Facebook page, with 13 million followers; and the third-largest YouTube channel, with 2.2 million subscribers, trailing only France and England.

Portugal ranked fourth after gaining 6.7 million new followers, with Instagram responsible for 43% of that growth. Despite being eliminated by Spain in the Round of 16, Portugal overtook England, which finished third at the World Cup, and claimed third place overall in the ranking with 48.5 million followers.

France rounded out the Top 5 fastest-growing national teams during the FIFA World Cup 2026. The French Football Federation (FFF) gained approximately 6.7 million new followers across its official social media channels, with 49% of that growth driven by TikTok. The France National Team has now surpassed 20 million TikTok followers, maintaining the largest TikTok audience among all national football teams. With nearly 60 million followers across all official platforms, France also remains at the top of the overall ranking, holding an advantage of approximately 6 million followers over Brazil, which ranks second.

Spain, the reigning FIFA World Cup champion, also delivered a strong digital performance during the tournament, adding 5.2 million new followers. This places the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) among the three fastest-growing European national associations, behind only Portugal and France.

Europe

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) remains the leading confederation by social media scope, with 276.7 million followers across the official accounts of the 23 national teams included in the study. Since June 2026, UEFA members have collectively gained more than 34 million new followers, led by Portugal (+6.7 million), France (+6.7 million) and Spain (+5.2 million). Together, these three national teams accounted for 55% of UEFA’s total follower growth during the period.

South America

Member associations of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) represent the second-largest digital audience, totaling more than 140 million followers across eight national teams. During the FIFA World Cup 2026, Argentina (+8 million), Brazil (+7.2 million) and Colombia (+1.4 million) recorded the highest follower gains, together accounting for 83% of the 20 million new followers added by CONMEBOL national teams during the tournament.

North America, Central America and the Caribbean

With 57.3 million followers, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) ranks third among the confederations. Throughout the FIFA World Cup 2026, host nations Mexico (+8.3 million), the United States (+1.4 million) and Canada (+870,000) accounted for 88% of all new followers gained, representing 10.6 million new followers across the seven Concacaf national teams included in the ranking.

Africa

The eleven member associations of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) featured in the study total 56.9 million followers across their official social media accounts. Since June 2026, Morocco has led follower growth with 3.4 million new subscriptions, followed by Algeria (+1.6 million) and Egypt (+1.3 million). Together, these three national teams generated 54% of the 11.5 million new subscriptions gained by African national teams during the period.

Asia

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) totals 46.7 million followers across ten national teams. During the FIFA World Cup 2026, AFC member associations collectively gained 4.3 million new followers. Japan delivered the strongest performance within the confederation, adding 1.9 million followers, representing 44% of AFC’s total new subscription growth during the tournament.

See the latest ranking below:

Source: IBOPE Repucom – Global Digital Ranking of National Football Teams
The study analyzes the follower volume of 60 national football teams across their official social media profiles — including the 48 teams qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 12 teams with the largest digital fan bases among those that have previously participated in the tournament. Self-reported figures are not considered; only official follower counts provided by the platforms themselves are included.