Are Nigerian Clubs in the 100 Most Followed Clubs on Social Media?

In a recent publication by CIES, Nigerian Clubs miss out on the 100 most followed clubs world-wide on social media platforms. The statistics were cumulatively taken from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok; to arrive at which clubs are more popular in the world than the other.

In this article, we'll bring to you the top 20 most followed clubs in the world, why Nigerian clubs failed to make the list, and the top most followed teams in Africa.

Top most followed 20 clubs in the world on social media

Real Madrid leads the rankings with 363 million followers; they're closely followed by their Spanish rivals, Barcelona who have 342 million followers. Manchester United, PSG and Juventus are the other clubs who made the top 5.

World football club ⚽ rankings of #Twitter #Instagram #Facebook & #TikTok followers, by @CIES_Football
🥇 @realmadrid 🇪🇸
🥈 @FCBarcelona 🇪🇸
🥉 @ManUtd 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿#PSG #Juventus #Chelsea #ManCity #LFC #Bayern #Arsenal
Top 💯 👉 https://t.co/Lox2tYiDvh pic.twitter.com/RHYWYA3RUk

— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) June 14, 2023

The Egyptian giants Al-Ahly, are amongst the top 20 clubs in terms of followers on social media, they're the only African club that made the top 20. We bring to you the top 20 most followed clubs from data collected from 100 clubs by CIES.

Real Madrid: 363 Million (Spain)
FC Barcelona: 342 Million (Spain)
Manchester United: 206 Million (England)
Paris Saint Germain: 187 Million (France)
Juventus: 144 Million (Italy)
Chelsea: 134 Million (England)
Manchester City: 131 Million (England)
Liverpool: 131 Million (England)
Bayern Munich: 127 Million (Germany)
Arsenal: 93.7 Million (England)
Tottenham Hotspur: 83.6 Million (England)
AC Milan: 61.2 Million (Italy)
Inter Milan: 54.6 Million (Italy)
CR Flamengo: 49.7 Million (Brazil)
Borussia Dortmund: 46.8 Million (Germany)
Atlético Madrid: 45.1 Million (Spain)
Al-Ahly SC: 44.8 Million (Egypt)
Galatasaray: 40.1 Million (Turkey)
Al-Nassr FC: 32.2 Million (Saudi Arabia)
Corinthians: 31.5 Million (Brazil)

Why Nigerian clubs did not make the top 100 most followed clubs in the world

The failure of Nigerian clubs in continental football over the years has resulted in low followership and popularity in the social media space. The CIES rankings not only shows the backdrop of Nigerian teams in terms of social media popularity, it also shows how the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) has lost public appeal amongst fans in and out of Nigeria.

Although there has been some considerable improvement in the running of the Nigerian League in recent times, we're hoping these changes will bring the league back to its former status in African football, and make Nigerian clubs compete favourably with the rest of the clubs dominating African football at the moment.

Enyimba FC of Aba are the last Nigerian club to win the CAF Champions League, that was in 2004. As a matter of fact, they're the only Nigerian side to have ever won the competition. However, their failure to feature consistently in the competition has had a negative impact on their social media popularity, as they're the only Nigerian club that could have made it to the top 100.

Furthermore, the failure of other Nigerian clubs in CAF competitions in almost two decades, has resulted in no Nigerian clubs making it into the top 100 most followed clubs on social media.

Top 8 most followed clubs in Africa on social media

Al-Ahly, who recently won their 11th CAF Champions League title, has been ranked 17th in the world by CIES, and first in the most followed clubs in Africa with 44.8 million followers.