An analysis of the accounts of the 26 players selected by Lionel Scaloni for the World Cup. Those who don't follow Messi, the case of the coach's user, and the comparison with other countries.
One of the many ways to follow the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is through Instagram, where teams and players share information, intimacies, and the flavor of the big event. Just days before the start of the World Cup, El Litoral analyzed the accounts of the 26 members of the Argentine National Team, specifically those following whom within the squad.
The first fact that reflects the importance of this social network is that all of those mentioned by Lionel Scaloni have an official, verified account. This isn't the case on other platforms like Twitter or Facebook.
Generally speaking, the vast majority of players follow their teammates. But, as always, there are exceptions. Without a doubt, the most notable cases are Franco Armani and Exequiel Placios, the only ones who don't follow Lionel Messi, captain and emblem of the "Albiceleste."
Meanwhile, there are five members of the "Scaloneta" who follow and are followed by all members of the squad. They are Emiliano Martinez, Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Joaquín Correa, and Julián Álvarez. Alejandro "Papu" Gomez also follows his 26 teammates, but the only one who hasn't returned the favor is Franco Armani.
In fact, the River Plate goalkeeper is the least followed World Cup player in the squad, with 11 players refusing to follow him. He is followed by Enzo Fernández (10) and Alexis Mac Allister (8), the two young players who joined in the final stretch of the season.
Armani also tops the list of those with the fewest followers, with 15. Then on that list appear Lionel Messi (16), Nicolás Otamendi (17), Enzo Fernández (17) and Lautaro Martínez (18).
All the players called up for Qatar 2022 follow the official Argentine national team account. However, @afaseleccion does not follow six of the players: Gerónimo Rulli, Germán Pezzella, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister, Exequiel Palacios, and "Papu" Gómez.
True to his characteristic low profile, Lionel Scaloni isn't an active Instagram user. In fact, he only created the account on September 9th. So far, he's only posted three photos and has over 77,000 followers, though none of them are members of the squad.
The coach also doesn't follow any of his players. He only has the national team's official account and seven other users, all members of his coaching staff: Walter Samuel (assistant coach), Roberto Ayala (assistant coach), Pablo Aimar (assistant coach), Rodrigo Barrios (physical trainer), Luis Martín (physical trainer), Martín Tocalli (goalkeeping coach), and Matías Manna (video analyst).
In terms of follower count, the list is, of course, led by Lionel Messi with a whopping 372 million. In second and third place are Paulo Dybala (49.4 million) and Angel Di Maria (18.7 million).
The goalkeeper with the fewest followers is Gerónimo Rulli (283,000), the third on the list. Also below the half-million mark are Exequiel Palacios (401,000) and Alexis Mac Allister (469,000).
Of the official accounts of the national teams competing in Qatar 2022, Argentina has the fifth most followers. With 7,800,000, it is only behind Brazil (12,600,000), France (12,000,000), Portugal (10,800,000), and England (8,600,000).
In addition, Mexico (6,000,000), Germany (5,100,000), Spain (4,100,000), the United States (2,200,000), Morocco (1,700,000) and the Netherlands (1,400,000) exceed one million.
At the other end are Cameroon (73,000), Belgium (100,000), Tunisia (101,000), Ghana (128,000) and the organizer Qatar (170,000).
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