Kings of Instagram: Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Lionel Messi tops in followers among footballers

One of the surest ways to gauge the relative popularity of various soccer players is to compare how many Instagram followers they have. In 2017, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first athlete from any sport to eclipse the 100-million follower mark. He joined a quartet of female pop stars (Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande) in the ultra-exclusive club. He’s since gone on to become the first athlete to cross the 400 million threshold.

While Ronaldo, Neymar and Lionel Messi are tops on Instagram among footballers, can you name the remaining nine stars in the top twelve? Overall, six of the top-dozen players were born in South America, while five of the remaining six are Europeans.

UPDATED April 5, 2024

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A post shared by Mohamed Salah (@mosalah) on Dec 22, 2019 at 2:05pm PST

Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly
Current team: Liverpool
Born June 15, 1992 🇺🇾 Nagrig, Egypt
Instagram followers: 51.3 million

A post shared by Luis Suarez (@luissuarez9) on Jun 20, 2018 at 12:17pm PDT

Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz
Current team: Barcelona
Born January 24, 1987 🇺🇾 Salto, Uruguay
Instagram followers: 43.6 million

A post shared by Zlatan Ibrahimović (@iamzlatanibrahimovic) on Jun 22, 2018 at 3:02pm PDT

Zlatan Ibrahimović
Current team: AC Milan
Born October 3, 1981 🇸🇪 Malmo, Sweden
Instagram followers: 54.1 million

A post shared by Marcelo Vieira Jr. (@marcelotwelve) on Jun 22, 2018 at 1:31am PDT

Marcelo Vieira da Silva Junior
Current team: Real Madrid
Born May 12, 1988 🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Instagram followers: 44.9 million

A post shared by Gareth Bale (@garethbale11) on Sep 15, 2017 at 7:04am PDT

Gareth Frank Bale
Current team: Real Madrid
Born July 16, 1989 🇬🇧 Cardiff, Wales
Instagram followers: 47.5 million

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A post shared by James Rodríguez (@jamesrodriguez10) on Feb 21, 2020 at 8:33am PST

James David Rodríguez Rubio
Current team: Al-Rayyan
Born July 12, 1991 🇨🇴 Cúcuta, Colombia
Instagram followers: 49.5 million

A post shared by Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (@ronaldinho) on Jan 29, 2018 at 4:45am PST

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira
Last team: Fluminense
Born March 21, 1980 🇧🇷 Porto Alegre, Brazil
Instagram followers: 66.9 million

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A post shared by Kylian Mbappé (@k.mbappe) on Dec 30, 2019 at 8:20am PST

Kylian Mbappé Lottin
Current team: Paris Saint-Germain
Born December 20, 1998 🇫🇷 Paris, France
Instagram followers: 72.9 million

A photo posted by David Beckham (@davidbeckham) on Oct 8, 2016 at 3:16am PDT

David Robert Joseph Beckham
Last team: Paris Saint-Germain
Born May 2, 1975 🇬🇧 London, England
Instagram followers: 74 million

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A post shared by EneJota 🇧🇷 👻 neymarjr (@neymarjr) on Oct 30, 2018 at 9:21am PDT

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior
Current team: Paris Saint-Germain
Born February 5, 1992 🇧🇷 Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil
Instagram followers: 180 million

A post shared by Leo Messi (@leomessi) on May 30, 2018 at 12:02pm PDT

Lionel Andrés Messi
Current team: Paris Saint-Germain
Born June 24, 1987 🇦🇷 Rosario, Argentina
Instagram followers: 369 million

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A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) on Nov 17, 2018 at 7:07am PST

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro
Current team: Manchester United
Born February 5, 1985 🇵🇹 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
Instagram followers: 492 million