Latest analysis tracking the Instagram follower counts of all the over 1,200 players across all 48 nations at the 2026 World Cup shows that Erling Haaland is the #1 player when it comes to Instagram followers gained during the knockout stage.
According to MyBettingSites.co.uk, the Norway star added 12,910,616 new followers – a rise of +29.2% – taking his total to 57,057,588 followers.
His estimated earnings per sponsored post now stand at $570,576 / £449,271 / €523,446.
Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha is #2 for the knockout stage alone, adding 10,787,140 new followers (+62.4%) to reach 28,060,921 followers, with estimated earnings of $280,609 / £220,952 / €257,431 per sponsored post.
Gilberto Mora (Mexico) is #3 knockout stage gainer. He added 3,787,094 new followers during the knockout rounds alone – a rise of +172.5% – taking him to 5,982,753 total followers, part of a wider surge for Mexico’s squad.
Mora’s estimated earnings per sponsored post reached $59,828 / £47,108 / €54,886.
Other notable percentage gainers of the knockout stage incident Orlando Gill (Paraguay) +728.7%, Sidny Lopes Cabral (Cape Verde) +643.4%, Orjan Nyland (Norway) +369.4%, Lucas Herrington (Australia) +343.1%, and Issa Diop (Morocco) +246.5%.
At national level for the knockout stage alone, Norway are the #1 nation for followers gained, topping the combined gains table with +13,801,501 new followers across their squad – powered almost entirely by Haaland – enough to push them above Cape Verde for this period.
Cape Verde are #2 (+12,851,299), Mexico #3 (+12,642,394), and Brazil #4 (+9,790,465).
Which player has gained most Instagram followers from World Cup
Vozinha (Cape Verde) remains the #1 player for followers gained across the tournament as a whole thus far – he has gained 28,029,383 new followers since 8 June – a rise of +88,875% – taking his total from 31,538 followers to 28,060,921 followers.
His estimated earnings per sponsored post have risen from around $315 / £248 / €289 at kick-off to $280,609 / £220,952 / €257,431 today.
Erling Haaland is #2 for the tournament as a whole with 16,413,105 new followers gained (+40.4%) since the start of the tournament, now on 57,057,588 followers, and estimated earnings of $570,576 / £449,271 / €523,446 per sponsored post.
Douglas Santos (Brazil) is #11 by raw gain and remains the most striking name outside the top six superstars. A defender barely known outside Brazil going into the competition, he has grown his account from 192,754 followers to 2,678,840 followers – a rise of +1,289.8% – with estimated earnings of $26,788 / £21,093 / €24,576 per sponsored post.
World Cup 2026: How country has gained highest number of followers?
At national level for the full tournament, Cape Verde are the #1 nation for followers gained, topping the combined gains table with +31,113,003 new followers across their squad – still driven almost entirely by Vozinha. Brazil are #2 (+26,912,039), Mexico #3 (+18,626,767) on the back of their knockout run, and Norway #4 (+17,630,818) largely thanks to Haaland.
Other notable percentage gainers across the full tournament: Eloy Room (Curaçao) +1,161.5%, Sidny Lopes Cabral (Cape Verde) +1,097.2%, and Diney Borges (Cape Verde) +1,093.3%.
“What we’re seeing is how many players outside the household names are still climbing fast. Mexico’s Gilberto Mora has quadrupled his following since kick-off, Brazil’s Douglas Santos has grown his account by well over a thousand percent from a standing start, and Cape Verde’s Sidny Lopes Cabral has multiplied his following more than tenfold.
The World Cup has always made stars, and these numbers show just how quickly it can still happen,” a spokesperson for MyBettingSites.co.uk said.
