Norway striker Erling Haaland has emerged as the biggest social media winner of the 2026 FIFA World Cup knockout stages, gaining more than 12.5 million followers during the quarter-finals and semi-finals, according to new data released by MyBettingSites.co.uk.
The report, which tracked the social media growth of more than 1,200 players participating in the tournament, showed that Haaland added 12,532,394 followers between July 8 and July 16, representing a 22 per cent increase and taking his total audience to 69.6 million followers.
England midfielder Jude Bellingham ranked second for the period, gaining 5.61 million followers, a rise of 12.8 per cent, to reach 49.35 million followers. Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo placed third with an additional 3.63 million followers, although he remains the most-followed player at the tournament with a total audience of 676.6 million.
Spain’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal gained 3.16 million followers during the same period, while France captain Kylian Mbappé added 1.94 million.
Other notable performers included France’s Michael Olise, who gained 1.92 million followers, Mexico’s Gilberto Mora with 1.48 million, and Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, who added 1.28 million followers.
Among the fastest-growing players by percentage during the knockout rounds were Egypt’s Mostafa Ziko, whose following increased by 163.3 per cent, South Africa’s Jayden Adams with 157.4 per cent growth, Egypt’s Haissem Hassan with 115.9 per cent, and Norway’s Patrick Berg and Orjan Nyland, who posted increases of 77.7 per cent and 62.3 per cent respectively.
At national team level, Norway topped the rankings for followers gained during the quarter-finals and semi-finals, recording a combined increase of 13.6 million followers across its squad, largely driven by Haaland’s popularity. Argentina followed with 8.12 million new followers, ahead of England with 7.7 million and Egypt with 7.21 million.
Looking at the tournament as a whole, however, Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha remains the biggest social media success story.
Since the World Cup began on June 8, Vozinha has gained 29.3 million followers, representing an extraordinary growth rate of 92,918.7 per cent and taking his total following to 29.34 million.
Haaland sits second overall with 28.95 million followers gained since the start of the tournament, while Ronaldo ranks third with 11 million additional followers.
England’s Bellingham is fourth with 8.09 million new followers, while several Mexican players also featured prominently among the tournament’s leading social media gainers, including Gilberto Mora, Julián Quiñones and veteran goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.
The report also highlighted remarkable percentage increases for players whose profiles were relatively modest before the tournament. Brazil’s Douglas Santos recorded follower growth of 1,281.6 per cent, Curaçao goalkeeper Eloy Room posted a rise of 1,150.4 per cent, while Cape Verde’s Sidny Lopes Cabral and Diney Borges registered increases of 1,145.2 per cent and 1,078.9 per cent respectively.
Cape Verde leads the overall national rankings with 32.57 million followers gained across its squad during the tournament. Norway follows closely with 31.24 million, while Brazil and Argentina occupy third and fourth positions.
Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson for MyBettingSites.co.uk said Haaland’s performances and visibility had helped him dominate social media growth during the latter stages of the tournament.
“In the quarter-finals and semi-finals alone, Erling Haaland added 12.5 million new followers, a rise of 22 per cent, putting him well clear at the top for this stage,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson noted that while Haaland is rapidly closing the gap on Vozinha’s overall tournament lead, the Cape Verde goalkeeper’s extraordinary growth rate of more than 92,000 per cent is unlikely to be matched before the competition concludes.
The data also drew attention to several Egyptian players who continued to attract large numbers of followers despite Egypt’s elimination in the round of 16. Mostafa Shobeir gained more than 1.1 million followers during the knockout stages, while Mostafa Ziko and Haissem Hassan added over one million and 936,000 followers respectively.
Based on their current social media audiences, the report estimates Ronaldo could command about $6.77 million for a sponsored social media post, compared with $695,900 for Haaland and $493,520 for Bellingham.
The analysis covers player follower growth from June 8 to July 16 and includes data from more than 1,200 footballers participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.