The widespread influence of the U.S. men’s national team at the FIFA World Cup was reinforced by the boost in popularity for each player on social media. Every member of the team active on social media saw at least 100,000 new followers combined between Instagram and Twitter over the last three weeks. The average Twitter gain per player was over 169,000 while the average Instagram gain was over 29,600. U.S. G Tim Howard saw the biggest gain with over 600,000 new followers combined on the two platforms after his play inspired the internet meme of “#ThingsTimHowardCouldSave.” The next most popular player was the team’s leading scorer, F Clint Dempsey, with over 483,000 new followers. Dempsey’s 981,000 followers make him the most-popular active U.S. player on social media now that the team’s run is over, passing the pre-World Cup leader, injured F Jozy Altidore. The young goal-scoring members of the U.S. squad, D John Brooks and MF Julian Green, each gained over 225,000 new followers. Numbers were compiled on June 10 and July 2.
| U.S. PLAYER |
TWITTER
(6/10)
|
INSTAGRAM
(6/10)
|
TOTAL
(6/10)
|
TWITTER
(7/2)
|
INSTAGRAM
(7/2)
|
TOTAL
(72)
|
ADDS
|
Tim
Howard |
68,975
|
73,415
|
142,390
|
535,386
|
212,677
|
748,063
|
605,673
|
Clint
Dempsey |
356,423
|
142,401
|
498,824
|
683,465
|
298,466
|
981,931
|
483,107
|
Julian
Green |
20,897
|
1,504
|
22,401
|
234,013
|
21,524
|
255,537
|
233,136
|
John
Brooks |
18,020
|
4,939
|
22,959
|
228,716
|
22,987
|
251,703
|
228,744
|
Fabian
Johnson |
24,127
|
12,261
|
36,388
|
229,609
|
32,862
|
262,471
|
226,083
|
DeAndre
Yedlin |
32,283
|
10,740
|
43,023
|
230,864
|
33,206
|
264,070
|
221,047
|
Jermaine
Jones |
195,901
|
23,548
|
219,449
|
382,299
|
54,871
|
437,170
|
217,721
|
Mix
Diskerud |
39,852
|
15,532
|
55,384
|
228,000
|
22,735
|
250,735
|
195,351
|
Jozy
Altidore |
649,327
|
126,882
|
776,209
|
814,441
|
149,048
|
963,489
|
187,280
|
Kyle
Beckerman |
52,452
|
22,812
|
75,264
|
199,401
|
49,675
|
249,076
|
173,812
|
Aron
Johannsson |
33,883
|
10,501
|
44,384
|
163,606
|
27,700
|
191,306
|
146,922
|
Graham
Zusi |
41,862
|
14,229
|
56,091
|
164,217
|
34,811
|
199,028
|
142,937
|
DaMarcus
Beasley |
109,955
|
19,469
|
129,424
|
228,324
|
35,958
|
264,282
|
134,858
|
Geoff
Cameron |
54,788
|
21,043
|
75,831
|
165,882
|
33,931
|
199,813
|
123,982
|
Matt
Besler |
35,016
|
11,103
|
46,119
|
150,561
|
19,048
|
169,609
|
123,490
|
Chris
Wondolowski |
35,652
|
0
|
35,652
|
157,088
|
0
|
157,088
|
121,436
|
Brad
Davis |
32,624
|
4,103
|
36,727
|
145,721
|
11,403
|
157,124
|
120,397
|
Alejandro
Bedoya |
73,649
|
16,253
|
89,902
|
179,761
|
30,048
|
209,809
|
119,907
|
Omar
Gonzalez |
41,760
|
17,734
|
59,494
|
150,061
|
26,082
|
176,143
|
116,649
|
Nick
Rimando |
42,274
|
17,451
|
59,725
|
142,516
|
24,917
|
167,433
|
107,708
|
Brad
Guzan |
92,692
|
10,982
|
103,674
|
188,359
|
18,567
|
206,926
|
103,252
|
Michael
Bradley |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Timothy
Chandler |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NOTE: * = Michael Bradley only has a private Instagram account with 146 followers.
