The World Cup is a massive global event that is followed by a lot more than just football fans. In 2014, over 350 million people on Facebook shared an astonishing three billion posts, comments, and likes related to the tournament. 

As the tournament continues, Facebook takes a look at the top content during the group stage. Up until June 28th, the five most discussed players globally were Messi, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Coutinho, and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah. The most discussed teams were the Brazilian National team followed by the Argentinean, Mexican, Russian, and the Portuguese teams. The most loved post globally was Messi’s profile picture. 

In the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region; over 11 million users on Facebook discussed the Egyptian National Team, while more than 10 million discussed the Moroccan team. The Saudi Arabia National Team was discussed more than 9 million times, and more than 7.5 million discussed the Tunisian team.

When it comes to top content related to World Cup in the MENA region, Mo Salah’s video message about being ready to play for a ‘100 million strong’ was the most loved post in both Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In Morocco, Aziz Bouhaddouz post on June 16th was the most loved one. In Tunisia, the most loved post was ‘We Are From Here’ by the Palestine’s Mobile Network Operator, Jawal.

Evidently Facebook users love interacting with sports, of which football is by far the most followed. As the tournament continues, brands have a great opportunity to engage with a massive audience directly, while delivering relevant, personal, and attention-grabbing messages to their target audience.