Meta Sees Record Engagement Across Apps During FIFA World Cup 2026
Meta recorded record engagement across WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Threads during the FIFA World Cup 2026, driven by sports conversations and creator growth.
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Meta saw record engagement across its family of apps during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with unprecedented levels of activity on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Threads as football fans turned to social platforms alongside live broadcasts.
The month-long tournament generated historic interaction across messaging, social conversations and creator engagement, the company said, highlighting the growing role of digital platforms in influencing the fan experience around major sporting events.
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WhatsApp Hits New Record:
WhatsApp saw its highest ever messaging volume during the tournament with more than 29 million messages sent per second during the Round of 16 match between Argentina and Egypt.
It beat the previous platform record set during the 2022 FIFA World Cup final as the use of messaging platforms for live sports conversations continues to grow.
Meanwhile, Facebook users created over 80 million posts related to the tournament, while Threads logged 1.5 billion impressions, with an average of 15 million daily active users and a high of 25 million users on July 6.
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Instagram Fuels Athlete Growth:
The footballers also significantly grew their audiences on Instagram during the tournament.
Between June 11 and July 11, the World Cup players gained a total of 213.6 million followers, bringing their total audience to 3.47 billion, a 6.6% increase.
Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha was the tournament’s biggest social media success story, with his number of followers growing from 37,000 to 28.8 million, while the country’s squad overall saw a 2,000% increase in audience size.
Erling Haaland was among the established stars to attract 23 million followers, while Cristiano Ronaldo added a further 10 million to take his Instagram following to a record 676 million.
Other rising stars such as Endrick, Jude Bellingham, Michael Olise and Lamine Yamal also experienced strong audience growth throughout the tournament.
