As the dust settles on another successful European Championship, the tournament of 2016 won’t just be remembered for the passion and unexpected success of Wales and Iceland, but also as one of the most talked about sporting events EVER on social media.
This was undoubtedly the year that, more than ever, fans, players and teams connected to share their excitement (and sometimes disappointment) for the beautiful game.
This was particularly true on Instagram, which can count on football as its most popular sport; more than 100 million people follow a football account and one in five of the most followed accounts are football related.
From discussing England’s shock exit against Iceland to Ireland’s crucial win over Italy, this year’s Euros was one of the most Instagrammed sporting events ever.
During the tournament, over 61 million football fans connected with their favourite players and teams on the platform and shared an incredible 476 million posts, likes and comments – with 59 million of these during the final alone.
One of the most exciting things has been seeing football players and teams build a direct, authentic connection with their fans. International stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, whose celebration after Portugal’s semi-final victory was the most liked Instagram image of the tournamentwith 2.1million likes, uses his account to share personal, behind-the-scenes moments.
Since the final, Ronaldo has shared a series of these off-pitch images with fans, from cuddling with the trophy on the plane home, to videos chanting with team-mates on the victory parade, to celebrating with his family, which have been liked by fans all over the world, more than 19 million times.
Even in defeat, players turned to Instagram to express themselves, Antoine Griezmann sharing a poignant post after losing to Portugal in the final.
This year, football fans were also able to experience the tournament on Instagram through video. Over the past six months, there has been a 150 percent rise in video views on Instagram and the Euros was no exception, with 514 million video views by fans during the tournament.
Some of the most watched videos include Gareth Bale chanting with Wales fans, Sergio Ramos sharing antics from training and Paul Pogba with Jerome Boateng sharing a moment in the changing room after France beat Germany in the semi-final. It helped fans get unparalleled access to one of the biggest sporting tournaments in the world.
Sport in general is booming on Instagram. The community has grown to 500 million and a third of those users (165 million) follow a sports-related account – football, tennis, motor racing and more.
It’s only a matter of weeks before we all get to experience the magic of the Olympic Games, too, and there’s no doubt that the beauty of Brazil will be shown through the eyes of the athletes and Instagrammers from around the world.
A FEW MORE POPULAR INSTAGRAM POSTS FROM EURO 2016 –