Although it is obvious that every football player is famous because they are stars of millions of hearts. Football itself has more than 3.5 billion followers worldwide. We have made a ranking of the most popular football players in the world this year as we have done in previous years.
Social media is dominating the world, especially football players interacting with their fans through their social media accounts. It is the trap for us to determine which player has the most followers and huge fanatical fans across the world.
Our assessment will not only focus on following fans, but also on sponsorship and successful careers. Let’s take a look at the most popular football players in the world right now.
Most Popular Soccer Players
Football is not only one of the most popular sports in the world, but it is also one of the highest paid sports known to mankind. Besides, all players from elite clubs and countries enjoy immense popularity around the world. And here are the most popular footballers in 2021.
Marcelo – Brazil | Real Madrid
Marcelo Vieira da Silva Junior is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Real Madrid. He won 22 trophies, including four UEFA Champions League, Olympic silver medals, as well as five La Liga titles.
He is one of the most followed footballers on Instagram with a large number of fans. There are 30.9 million likes on Cello’s Facebook page. Besides being the most followed person on Facebook, he has 24.9 million followers on Twitter and 22.1 million followers on Instagram.
Across all his social media accounts, he has amassed 76.2 million followers. In addition to his incredible number of fans, he has also been sponsored by many companies who pay him a large sum of money.
Apart from being one of the most famous football players, Marcelo is also one of the richest. He is estimated to be worth $17 million US Dollars.
Mohamed Salah – Egypt | Liverpool
Mohamed Salah is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays for Liverpool in the Premier League. He has won several awards, including the UAFA Golden Boy in 2012, the Swiss Super League Player of the Year and the Laureus Sporting Inspiration Award.
Salah is known for his propensity and his dribbling. He is one of the most popular football players with a large number of fans across the world. He has 14.3 million followers on his Twitter account.
In addition to being the most followed athlete on Twitter, he also has 43.3 million followers on Instagram and 14 million on Facebook. Besides, he is also one of the highest paid football players right now.
After his huge success and being loved by millions of fans, he now has a sponsorship deal with sportswear supplier Adidas which is paying handsomely. Having a $90 million net worth Salah secured his 9th position among our top 10 most popular football players in the world right now.
Virgil Van Dijk – Netherlands | Liverpool
Dutch professional footballer Virgil van Dijk plays as a centre-back for Premier League club, Liverpool. He is considered one of the best defenders in the world of football. He has won numerous awards to earn a place in the global football player popularity rankings, including the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, Liverpool Players’ Player of the Season award and FIFA FIFPro World11.
Virgil is the only defender to win the UEFA Player of the Year award. A phenomenal career helped him gain popularity. He is one of the richest and most famous footballers in the world.
He has 2.5 million followers on Twitter, 10.4 million followers on Instagram, and 5.8 million followers on his Facebook account. Along with his popularity, he also has brands sponsoring him, paying him a handsome amount of money.
It is well known that he has a sense of humor and a caring personality which makes people like him. His achievements and popularity currently earn him 8th place in our top 10 most popular football players in the world.
Erling Haaland – Norway | Borussia Dortmund
A Norwegian professional footballer Erling Haaland plays as a striker for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. Tall and handsome, Haaland started his career at hometown club Bryne in 2016.
During his very short time in the world of football, he has won numerous awards including Eliteserien Breakthrough of the Year, Austrian Footballer of the Year and the U-20 World Cup Golden Boot. of FIFA. He is now dubbed as one of the best football strikers in the world right now.
Erling is well known for his quick movements and striking skills. He is considered one of the most popular footballers. He has a huge fan following on different social media accounts like 10 million followers on Instagram, 10 million followers on Facebook, and 1 million followers on Twitter.
He is charming and looks awesome for his fans. Everyone who looks up to him says he is one of the cutest players in football history. Erling also wins a sponsorship deal with American sportswear manufacturer Nike.
Robert Lewandowski – Poland | Bayern Munich
Robert Lewandowski is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. The greatest striker of all time Robert has scored 500 senior career goals for club and country.
Furthermore, he is among the all-time top scorers in the German Bundesliga. The handsome and very attractive face of this player coupled with his blue eyes makes him the most handsome player in the league.
He has a huge fan following on social media. Robert has 20.8 million followers on Instagram. Besides being the most followed player on Instagram, he has 1.6 million followers on Twitter and 22 million followers on Facebook.
He earns a lot of money through sponsorship. Robert Lewandowski has supported brands like Nike, Huawei, Opel, EA Sports in the past and currently supports CoverGirl and sports drink brand Oshie. With a net worth of $94 million , he is one of the richest footballers in 2021.
Kevin De Bruyne – Belgium | Manchester City
A Belgian professional footballer Kevin De Bruyne plays as a midfielder for one of the Premier League champions, Manchester City. It has often been said that De Bruyne is the greatest football midfielder in the world and a complete footballer.
Handsome Kevin is considered to be the most famous football player in 2021. He has won several awards which is the main reason behind his popularity.
He was named Bundesliga Young Player of the Year, Footballer of the Year (Germany) and Manchester City Player of the Season. Kevin has crazy fans while having 14.7 million followers on Instagram, 2.8 million followers on Twitter, and 14 million followers on the Facebook account.
Apart from his popularity, he is also one of the richest footballers, his net worth is $60 million . De Bruyne’s wealth comes from a mix of lucrative contracts and sponsorship deals with Nike, EA Sports and Orange.
Paulo Dybala – Argentina | Juventus
Paulo Exequiel Dybala is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Juventus. He is dubbed by many as one of the best football wingers in the world right now.
The handsome guy has millions of crazy fans around the world. He has won numerous titles including Serie A Team of the Year, Serie A Most Valuable Player and the Coppa Italia. He is well known for his deep blue eyes and innocence.
Dybala has a large fan following on his social media accounts like 43.1 million followers on Instagram, 2.1 million followers on Twitter, and 15 million followers on his Facebook account. He is famous for his charm and incredible game tactics.
Along with all his fans on social media accounts, he also has a huge paid brand for Adidas sponsorship. He is among the richest football players also having a net worth of $40 million . Surely, Dybala is currently in 4th place in our top 10 most popular football players in the world.
Neymar – Brazil | Paris Saint Germain
Neymar is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ligue 1 and one of the richest football clubs, Paris Saint-Germain. He is widely regarded as one of the most popular footballers of all time.
Neymar was twice named South American Footballer of the Year, in 2011 and 2012, and soon moved to Europe to join Barcelona. He is the giant who has won various awards during his career including La Liga World’s Best Player, Copa America and FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball.
In his entire career, he scored 200 goals in 333 games. Neymar is well known to all football lovers and has a large number of fans all over the world. NJR has millions of fans following on social media like 54.3 million followers on Twitter, 158 million followers on Instagram, and 84 million followers on Facebook.
He is also one of this year’s highest paid athletes with a net worth of $185 million . Neymar has a sponsorship with Puma which pays him 35 million dollars/year .
Lionel Messi – Argentina | Paris Saint Germain
Messi is one of the greatest Argentine footballers who plays as a striker for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. During his career, he won six Ballon d’Ors and six European Golden Shoe awards.
