While football has always been a global game, the rise of social media has seen teams grow their followings like never before. They’ve become more accessible than ever, with fans from all over the world able to interact with them online, no matter where they are. Premier League clubs in particular have become worldwide franchises.

Even the likes of West Ham United have nearly 20m followers across social media, highlighting how the emergence of sites such as Instagram and X (Twitter) have helped teams become bigger and more popular than ever. Now, a fascinating study from CIES Football Observatory has revealed the 17 English teams with the biggest followings across all social media platforms.

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Including the likes of Crystal Palace and Leeds United

Leeds United are the first team on the list, squeaking in at 17th with 7m followers across all social media platforms. They could see their following grow even more going forward should their upward trajectory continue.

Just ahead of them are Sunderland, whose followers have grown by 55.3% over the last year thanks to their success in the Premier League. The Black Cats finished in an impressive seventh in their first campaign back in England’s top tier as they secured Europa League qualification.

Just ahead of them are Southampton, who were sensationally kicked out of this year’s Championship playoff final, and Crystal Palace, who were recently crowned Europa Conference League champions.

Palace’s rivals Brighton & Hove Albion (9.7m), Wolverhampton Wanderers (12.3m) and Everton (17.7m) are the final three sides included in this section, with the Toffees’ followers growing by 21.8% over the last 12 months.

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Tottenham Hotspur feature here

Breaking into the top 10, Aston Villa are up first. The Midlands club have been transformed under Unai Emery and are now firmly entrenched among the Premier League’s top teams. They successfully qualified for the Champions League once again this season following a fourth-place finish, while they were also triumphant in the Europa League. It’s vastly different from the struggles in the Championship just a handful of seasons ago.

Despite their success, Emery’s side have fewer followers than West Ham. The Hammers’ followers have grown by 6.3% over the last 12 months despite enduring a tough campaign which ultimately ended in relegation to the Championship.

Newcastle United follow. The Magpies have gone from strength to strength following Mike Ashley’s sale of the club to the Saudi Public Investment Fund and they have 21.3m followers across all social media channels. They aren’t the only team who have seen a significant improvement in recent years and earned a sizeable following as a result, though.

The final two teams just outside the top five are Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur. Despite falling into League One, the Foxes have 24.3m followers across all social media, while Spurs (112.2m) miss out on the top five by just 6m.

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Manchester United lead the way

The first team in the top five is Arsenal. The Gunners finally ended their Premier League trophy drought to become English champions for the first time since 2004. They were beaten in the Champions League final by PSG, though, meaning they remain the only team in the top five of this list to never win the competition. As a result, it’s hardly surprising to see the Gunners come fifth with 118.5m followers across all platforms.

There’s a sizeable jump next to fourth place and ahead of them is London rivals Chelsea, who have 156.5m social media followers in total. The Blues have won two Champions League trophies over the last 15 years and have seen their status in football grow exponentially during the 21st century. With five Premier League titles under their belt too, Chelsea have become one of the biggest clubs in not just England, but the world.

Over 23m ahead of them, though, is Liverpool. After a period of struggle, the Reds transformed into one of the best teams in England again under Jurgen Klopp. The Germany rejuvenated the side and led them back to the Champions League trophy and their first ever Premier League title. His exit threatened undoing all the work they’d done, but Arne Slot came in and took them straight to the peak of English football. They are one of the most decorated football teams in the country and have 179.2m followers across all social media platforms, making them the third-most-followed side in England.

Surprisingly, Manchester City are one place above Liverpool, with 187.8m social media followers. The Citizens became one of the most dominant teams in the history of English football following Pep Guardiola’s arrival and that form has seen them become one of the most followed teams in the country. They’ve got a long way to go before they catch up to their local rivals, though. Manchester United, despite their struggles in recent years, are by far the most followed team in England, with 238.6m social media followers.

The Red Devils are coming off one of their better campaigns in recent years, with Michael Carrick leading them to a third-place finish in the Premier League. They’re the third-most followed team in the world, only behind Real Madrid (487.6m) and Barcelona (441.8m), and there’s no shame in that.

Tottenham are continuing in their pursuit to sign Savinho from Manchester City, with transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reporting that a deal will be done “quite soon”.

Spurs have already completed their first signing of the summer transfer window – despite it not being open yet – with Andy Robertson confirmed to be joining the club on July 1, following the expiration of his contract at Liverpool.

A second free transfer should follow in the coming days, with Marcos Senesi set to arrive from Bournemouth, having “given his word” to complete a move to Tottenham this summer.

Tottenham have been linked with other free transfers too, namely John Stones from Manchester City and Dusan Vlahovic from Juventus and canny free deals like that will allow Roberto De Zerbi to potentially splash out bigger cash on individual signings.

Spurs make contract offer to Savinho

One of those looks likely to be for Stones’ Man City teammate Savinho.

Spurs are likely to have to drop a fee of at least £50million to sign the Brazilian from City this summer and there have been talks over a deal, with an insider suggesting Tottenham had already made a £120,000-a-week contract offer to the 22-year-old.

Romano believes a deal will not be far off completion for Spurs to spend their first big money of the summer transfer window and bolster De Zerbi’s attacking options.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano said: “Tottenham are going for Savinho, Tottenham feel that the player wants the move, Totenham feel that Savinho one year ago was already ready to go to Tottenham.

“Savinoh was attracted to Tottenham one year ago and Savinho is attracted to Tottenham today, so on the player’s side I don’t see big issues. I think on the player’s side Savinho to Tottenham can get done quite soon.

“Now it’s on Manchester City and Tottenham, negotiating, discussing, talking about the transfer fee, but Tottenham are in it, they are working on the Savinho deal.”

Savinho did not have the best of 2025/26 seasons

City signed Savinho from French club Troyes in 2024 in a deal worth around £31million. Spurs did have a bid of more than £60million knocked back last summer, but could negotiate a fee less than that given the player’s disappointing 2025/26 season.

The forward only started 14 games in all competitions, with 36 appearances in total, scoring just four goals and providing three assists.

De Zerbi likes to play with conventional wingers in his 4-2-3-1 system and he will see Savinho as perfect for his system.

Soon after signing him, Pep Guardiola said: “His impact has been really, really good. He is a player who can play on both sides, can come inside, but what I like most is how devastating he is in the final third. He gets the ball, and his first thought is always to attack the opponent. He is aggressive, he is fast, and he has a unique quality to dribble past two or three players. For a manager, having a winger with that kind of personality is a gift.”

All 48 teams that will compete in the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, have now named their 26-man squads for this summer’s tournament.

Argentina go into the competition as the reigning champions and will no doubt do everything in their power to lift the trophy once again at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19.

They aren’t the favourites to win the tournament, however, with Euro 2024 champions Spain, two-time winners France and Thomas Tuchel’s England all having better odds.

With the tournament now just a few days away, FIFA have published the height of all 1248 players that will be competing. Using this data, X user Out of Context Football Manager has worked out the average height of every squad. While height isn’t everything, their findings make for fascinating viewing.

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If Argentina are to retain their World Cup title, they will do so with the fifth-shortest squad in the competition. The average height of their 26-man squad is just 179.7cm, with Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez their smallest players, standing at 170cm tall.

Only four World Cup nations have a shorter squad than Argentina: Mexico, Qatar, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. The latter are the smallest team competition with an average height of 178.4cm.

Colombia are also among the smallest nations at the World Cup when it comes to stature, despite goalkeeper Álvaro Montero standing 201cm, making him the joint-second tallest player in the competition.

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Two of the favourites for the competition, Portugal and Spain, are also on the small side when it comes to stature. Roberto Martinez’s Portugal squad have an average height of 181.5cm, with Spain are two cms taller at 181.7cm.

Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo is one of their bigger players, standing at 185cm, while Pedri is one of Spain’s shorter players at 174cm.

Panama have the smallest player in the competition among their ranks. Winger Cesar Yanis stands at just 160cm tall, while his teammate, Alberto Quintero, is the fourth-shortest player in the tournament (164cm). Despite those two players bringing their average down, 15 nations have a shorter squad than them.

One of those 15 are DR Congo, with Noah Sadiki and Parfait Guiagon both standing at 165cm.

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Canada are also one of the shorter teams in the competition at 182cm. Their average height is brought down by Marcelo Flores, who is the second-shortest player in the tournament (164cm).

Brazil are looking to end their 22-year World Cup drought and emerge victorious in North America. They have the 23rd-largest squad in the competition, with Alisson Becker (193cm), Gabriel Magalhaes (190cm) and Igor Thiago (190cm) their tallest players.

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Thomas Tuchel has been entrusted as the man to lead England to World Cup glory and end 60 years of hurt. He likes to play physical football and thus has named a big squad, with Dan Burn (201cm) the second-tallest player in the competition.

England’s average squad height of 184.2cm makes them the 14th tallest squad in the competition, just shorter than fierce rivals Scotland (184.5cm).

Austria’s Florian Wiegele, standing at a mammoth 205cm, has become the tallest player to ever make a World Cup squad. Sasa Kalajdzic also stands at 200cm tall. Despite their height, Austria aren’t among the 10 largest teams in the competition.

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The 10 tallest teams in the competition, interestingly, are all European. Croatia, led by the diminutive Luka Modric, have an average height of 184.8cm, just shy of two of the favourites to win it all, Netherlands and France (both 184.9cm).

Switzerland (185.2cm), Germany (184.4cm), Czechia (185.7cm) and Belgium (185.8cm) are the seventh, sixth, fifth and fourth-tallest teams in the competition respectively.

In third are Sweden (186.2cm). Graham Potter has called up a number of physically dominant players, including Gustaf Nilsson and Jacob Widell Zetterström (both 197cm).

While Norway and Bosnia are the tallest teams in this summer’s tournament, with each having an average height of 187.2cm.

Erling Haaland, one of the best strikers in world football, stands at 195cm. He is Norway’s third-tallest player, behind strike-partner Alexander Sørloth (196cm) and Brentford’s Kristoffer Ajer (198cm).

Bosnia, meanwhile, have called up the joint-second tallest player in the competition: HNK Rijeka centre-back Stjepan Radeljic (201cm).