Cristiano Ronaldo named most 'powerful' soccer player on Instagram

• Cristiano Ronaldo has been named as Instagram's most "powerful" soccer star playing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
• According to Nielsen Gracenote, he averages more than $3.5 million in media value per post.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been named as Instagram's most "powerful" soccer star playing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The Portugal international has 472 million followers on the social media platform – more than any player who will take the pitch in Qatar.

According to analysts Nielsen Gracenote, he averages more than $3.5 million in media value per post.

Argentina forward Lionel Messi is the tournament's second most influential player, while Brazil's Neymar is its third.

Nielsen Gracenote's rankings are based on the firm's influencer measurement tool, which evaluates total followers, engagement rate, follower growth, and average brand value per post on Instagram.

Messi, 35, is followed by 359 million people and produces $2.6 million of media value per post. Neymar, 30, is followed by 177 million people and produces $1.2 million of media value per post.

Only one more player expected to play at the tournament – France's Kylian Mbappe – produces more than $1 million of media value per post.

Ronaldo's Manchester United teammate Jadon Sancho is the most influential English player, while Spain's Gavi, 18, is the breakthrough star.

Gavi, who plays for FC Barcelona, has enjoyed a 5,165% growth in followers in the past year.

A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano)

According to Nielsen Gracenote, France has the World Cup's most influential team on Instagram. The national soccer team's official page has over 11.7 million followers. This edges out Brazil and Portugal, which have 11.3 million and 10.3 million respectively on their official pages.