The FIFA World Cup in Russia is not far away and fans across the MENA region are getting ready to cheer for their favorite team. Enthusiasts on Twitter can already start preparing for the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ by following their favorite football team, individual players, or to connect with other fans and get involved in conversations. Whether you are rooting for Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia or any other football team, Twitter’s open nature will allow everyone to engage in a public conversation around the competition.

Twitter partnered with Hall&Partners and conducted a survey on the platform to gauge UAE fans’ sentiments as the big event approaches. The survey found that 96% of respondents are excited about the 2018 FIFA World Cup™, whereas in 2014, 88% followed the games. The survey also revealed that 81% of respondents are planning to watch the games with friends and family at home. When asked which country will win the World Cup, Brazil took the lead with 25% followed by Germany with 18% and Argentina with 18%. More insights in the below infographic:

Based on Twitter’s internal data, Mohamed Salah (@MoSalah) has become the third most mentioned football player globally on Twitter the past six months. His ranking comes after Portuguese and Real Madrid (@RealMadriden) forward Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) (#1 most talked about), and Argentinian player and FC Barcelona forward (@FCBarcelona) Lionel Messi (#2 most talked about).

Furthermore, following an injury sustained during his appearance at the UEFA Champions League final, millions of Egyptians were worried that Salah wouldn’t make it to the World Cup. Yesterday however, the player Tweeted that as a “fighter”, he is confident he will make it to Russia and make the country proud. With more than half a million likes, the Tweet was the player’s most Retweeted Tweet to date.

https://twitter.com/MoSalah/status/1000777691187109889

As for Saudi Arabia, it ranks second globally in terms of the volume of World Cup related Tweets in the past six months. Japan and Brazil take first and third place respectively.