ZIMBABWEAN influencer and socialite, Ashel Muchuchu popularly known as Boss Lashaan says it was not surprising that Portuguese soccer start Cristiano Ronaldo was recently named the most influential footballer on Instagram due to play at the 2022 World Cup due to the influence he has on and off the pitch.
Boss Lashaan said the photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms got it right on the recent results.
“Instagram is a very credible platform and has changed the social media for the better mostly in a positive way and so is Nielsen Sports. I am not agreeing with them because I am a Manchester United supporter but because of how everything that Ronaldo says, wears or does thread on not only Instagram but other platforms,”
“The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can be shared publicly or with preapproved followers. With these measures alone Ronaldo leads other footballers. Am sure by the end of the World Cup even if he does lift the trophy his market share and influence in that space will increase
Portugal forward Ronaldo had a 47% increase in followers in the past year. He averages more than US$3.5m in media value per post, according to analysts Nielsen Sports.
Manchester United team-mate Jadon Sancho is the most influential English player, while Gavi is the breakthrough star with a 5,165% growth in followers.
Rankings are based on Nielsen’s influencer measurement tool, which evaluates total followers, follower growth, engagement rate and average brand value per post on Instagram to give a media value total.
It ranked the players who are expected to feature at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Ronaldo has 480 million followers on Instagram, while Argentina’s Messi is followed by 360 million people – a 38% growth in the past 12 months – and produces $2.6m of media value per post.
The Paris St-Germain attacking trio of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe rank second, third and fourth respectively behind Ronaldo, each averaging more than $1m per post.
Of the top 10, Brazil’s Vinicius Junior had the biggest growth in following of any player with a 90% increase, having scored the winner in the Champions League final for Real Madrid against Liverpool.
France’s N’Golo Kante ranks eighth in the list and has the highest engagement rate of any player in the top 10 with his posts, at 11%.
The next big social media star looks to be Spain’s Gavi, whose following has shot up by more than 5000% to 6.2 million. His posts have an engagement rate of nearly 30%.
Brazil’s Raphinha and Antony are second and third in the breakthrough footballer standings with huge growth in their follower numbers after summer moves to Barcelona and Manchester United respectively.
