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By Emmanuel Adeleke
Manchester United forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, has been named as the most influential player on Instagram, expected to play at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.Â
The Portugal captain led the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar Jr in a report released by analysts.
Rankings are based on Nielsen’s influencer measurement tool, which evaluates total followers, follower growth, engagement rate and average brand value per post on Instagram to give a media value total.
It ranked the players who are expected to feature at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Ronaldo has 480 million followers on Instagram, a 48% growth in the past 12 months and he is projected to earn $3.5 million media value per post based on engagement.
Messi is followed by 360 million people, a 38% growth in the last 12 months and he is projected to earn $2.6m media value per post. He is closely followed by his PSG teammates Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, both of whom average $1 million per post.Â
Champions League and La Liga winner, Vinicius Junior, had the biggest increase rate of any player with 90%, having scored the winning goal to hand Real Madrid the European title in May.Â
Barcelona youngster, Gavi, was the breakthrough star on Instagram after recording an over 5000% growth.
The likes of Raphinha and Antony, who joined Barcelona and Manchester United, respectively, have also gained huge numbers.
Manchester United star, Jadon Sancho, is the most popular English footballer on the platform.
On the national team front, France leads the way, followed by Brazil, Portugal, England, Mexico, Germany, Spain, Morocco and Netherlands in that order.
