One major difference between the World Cup back in 2010 and now, is the full-scale involvement of social media in this year’s tournament, especially Twitter.
At the last World Cup tourney, not many teams had official Twitter handles. And even those that had didn’t have as many followers as they have now. This year, a lot of the World Cup conversation on Twitter is centred around official team handles, particularly spearheaded by FIFA’s official World Cup handle.
We preview matchday 5 highlighted by @DFB_Team facing @ronaldo’s Portugal and @ghanaofficial vs @ussoccer #WorldCup http://t.co/sZUkWz7eS5
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 16, 2014
After @SeFutbol's defeat to @KNVB in their opening game, @Torres says #ESP are better than they were in 2010 – http://t.co/iREDFkXsdb
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 15, 2014
Lionel Messi says @argentina must improve if they are to be crowned world champions – http://t.co/Vr2m5lopfl
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 16, 2014
In that light, here are the 10 most popular official World Cup team accounts on Twitter, in ascending other. If Twitter had a say, maybe these 8 teams would make the World Cup quarter finals?
England (@england)
How apt that the England National team’s Twitter handle is @england. They come in a disappointing 8th with 359k followers
Three Lions forward @WayneRooney says @england are fully aware of what is required in 'do-or-die' clash vs Uruguay http://t.co/hbDA8MBuMq
— England (@England) June 16, 2014
Japan (@jfa_samuraiblue)
Unless you can interpret Kanji, Kana and Hiragana, you probably have no business following this account. They’re still one of the most popular however, with 518 k followers as of this publication, even as Twitter is not the most popular social network in the country.
日本代表、イトゥに戻り調整 http://t.co/muarJ5sUTj #jfa
— 日本サッカー協会 (@JFA) June 16, 2014
Germany (@DFB_Team)
The official German National team has 539k followers on Twitter, making them the 6th most popular Wolrd Cup team on Twitter. The account tweets solely in German.
Spontane Hilfe. Für zwei deutsche Fans ohne Karten gab es am Flughafen zwei Tickets vom DFB-Präsidenten #aneurerseite pic.twitter.com/vgHXUkiPSd
— Ralf Köttker (@ralfkoettker) June 15, 2014
United States (@ussoccer)
One would have thought this would be the most popular World Cup team on Twitter. Not only is the official English language Twitter’s primary language, it’s also the country Twitter originated from. Nevertheless, the US team has managed to garner only about 778k followers. Maybe soccer football is still not as popular as it should be in the country. Interestingly, the US basketball team has only half the follower base at 343k. Of course, club basketball is more popular.
Get to Grant Park early tomorrow before #USAvGHA! @LupeFiasco's set starts at 4 pm CT! #HalfDay #SkipWork #1N1T pic.twitter.com/3oog0BAKNj
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@ussoccer_mnt) June 16, 2014
Spain (@SeFutbol)
The defending champions have managed to amass 803k followers, hence coming in at 4th place. Tweets from the this account are a mix of Spanish and English.
VIDEO | Don't miss the best images of the Spanish National Team (@SeFutbol), more united than ever, to face Chile! http://t.co/ZZixv0dM4C
— Selección Española de Fútbol (@SeFutbol) June 16, 2014
Colombia (@FCFSeleccionCol)
At 963k, the South American team is just a couple thousand shy of 1 million followers at . The account Tweets only in Spanish though
#COL ¡Gran debut de nuestra Selección en Brasil 2014! Superó 3-0 a Grecia con goles de Armero, Teo y James. pic.twitter.com/oVjRD1gzQP
— Selección Colombia (@FCFSeleccionCol) June 14, 2014
Brazil (CBF_Futebol)
It looks like the South Americans are favourites not only in real life football. With over 1.6 million followers, Brazil was actually the most popular team just before the World Cup kicked off. But they have now been overtaken by the new top Twitter team. Oh, and all Tweets are in Portugese.
Estreia importante com vitória brasileira! Valeu demais,Brasil! pic.twitter.com/Kxb2QywqcC
— CBF Futebol (@CBF_Futebol) June 12, 2014
Mexico (@miseleccionmx)
With over 1.7 million followers, if the World Cup winner were determined by Twitter followership, Mexico are the undisputed champions. All tweets are in Spanish though so, unless you understand the language, you might wanna steer clear.
¡Buenas noches! Gracias por su apoyo y entrega. ¡Gracias por ser la mejor afición! #ContigoSiempre #SelecciónBanamex pic.twitter.com/do8J3VPeQq
— Selección Nacional (@miseleccionmx) June 16, 2014
Oh, in case you were wondering, Team Nigeria has only about 30k Twitter followers.
https://twitter.com/NGSuperEagles/status/478485752171741184
