While Spain celebrated their victory in the 2026 World Cup on Sunday, one player from another European national team topped the social media headlines: Erling Haaland.
During the 39-day tournament, the Norway forward gained an impressive 32.1 million followers, as reported by Sportico on Monday. Haaland scored seven goals, placing him in a tie with Jude Bellingham for the third-highest tally at the event, just behind Lionel Messi and two goals shy of the Golden Boot winner Kylian Mbappé. Haaland’s contributions helped Norway reach the quarterfinals and achieve their first-ever World Cup knockout stage victory.
In a surprising turn, Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha ranked second in follower growth. After a standout performance against Spain in the group stage, where he made seven saves and earned man of the match honors in a 0-0 draw, Vozinha gained 29.2 million followers, with 14 million acquired in just four days following the match. His story became one of the biggest highlights of the tournament.
Bellingham secured the third spot with a growth of 12 million followers, followed by Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo at 11.4 million and Spain’s rising star Lamine Yamal with 11 million. Ronaldo remains the most followed athlete on Instagram with 677 million followers and counting.
Rounding out the list of top five were two players likely playing in their final World Cups: Brazil’s Neymar, who gained 7.7 million followers, and Messi, who added 7.5 million to his total, bringing him to 514 million followers—making him the second most followed athlete on Instagram.
The remaining top 10 included 17-year-old Mexico midfielder Gilberto Mora at 6.6 million, France‘s Michael Olise at 5.7 million, and Brazil‘s Endrick at 5.6 million.