Rabat – With 1.5 million followers, the Instagram page of Morocco’s national football team is ranked 9th among the world’s leading football squads.
According to a study by American market research firm Nielson Holdings, Morocco’s @equipedumaroc page on Instagram has seen the largest follower growth of 219.51% between August 2021 and July 2022. The period overlaps with the AFCON qualifiers and the preparations for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
While many Moroccan fans have been critical of the Atlas Lions’ performance in the AFCON qualifiers, which eventually led to the sacking of the former head coach, the national squad delivered some impressive games which are likely to have gained the team new fans.
Explaining the geographic distribution of the Moroccan fan base, Nielsen noted that 33.66% of Morocco’s fanbase lives outside the home country. While the study did not detail the origin of international fans, a significant chunk of them is likely to be part of Moroccan communities in the diaspora, particularly in Europe and Northern America.
Concerning fan engagement, the study concluded that the Atlas Lions held the highest engagement rate (3.36%) among the world’s most followed national football teams.
Morocco’s engagement rate exceeds that of the French squad at 1.34%.
France currently enjoys the largest Instagram following of 11.7 million, ahead of Brazil with 11.3 million, Portugal with 10.3 million, and England with 8.5 million.
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Argentina follows in fifth position with 7.2 million followers, while Mexico and Germany enjoy relatively large fan bases of 5.7 million and 4.9 million followers.
Spain, home to legendary teams such as Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, outperformed Morocco, securing the 8th position on the list with 4 million followers.
The Dutch football squad occupied the 10th rank with the second-highest engagement rate on Instagram at 2.09% led by 1.4 million followers.
With only 58 days left to the Qatar World Cup, the popularity of social media accounts of qualified football teams are likely to grow at home and abroad, as football fans are more and more eager to learn about the latest preparations of their favorite team
