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Who are the most followed clubs and players on Instagram?

Premier League club badges
Image: Which UK club is the most popular on Instagram?

Manchester United are the UK's most popular club on Instagram, with over 14m people following their account for their latest photos and videos.

United's total number of followers is over six million more than second-placed Arsenal (8.1m), while Chelsea are third on the list with 7.7m followers, according to data exclusively compiled for Sky Sports.

A view of the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand at Old Trafford
Image: Manchester United are the most-followed UK club

Top 20 most-followed UK football clubs on Instagram

Rank Team Followers
1 Man Utd 14.3m
2 Arsenal 8.1m
3 Chelsea 7.7m
4 Man City 3.9m
5 Liverpool 3.4m
6 Leicester 1.3m
7 Tottenham 914k
8 Everton 322k
9 West Ham 311k
10 Southampton 245k
11 Stoke 201k
12 Aston Villa 160k
13 Crystal Palace 151k
14 Celtic 146k
15 Swansea 134k
16 Sunderland 123k
17 Watford 110k
18 Bournemouth 104k
19 West Brom 104k
20 Rangers 102k

Instagram has a 500m-strong community, with one in three people on the social media site (around 165m) following a sports account.

Jose Mourinho posted this image on Instagram of him working out in his new office
Image: Jose Mourinho posted this image on Instagram of him working out in his new office

Football is the most popular sport on the site, and the opportunity for fans, athletes and clubs to connect has encouraged many of the game's biggest stars to open an account.

David Beckham with former Real Madrid team-mate Figo
Image: David Beckham - the most-followed UK footballer - posted this picture of his former Real Madrid team-mate Luis Figo

Former Manchester United and England ace David Beckham is the most popular UK footballer with 30.4m followers, ahead of Real Madrid and Wales star Gareth Bale (24m). Current United and England captain Wayne Rooney is a distant third with 8.3m followers.

Most followed UK footballers on Instagram

Rank Player Followers
1 David Beckham 30.4m
2 Gareth Bale 24m
3 Wayne Rooney 8.3m
4 Steven Gerrard 5.1m
5 John Terry 2.7m
6 Daniel Sturridge 2.6m
7 Aaron Ramsey 2.4m
8 Raheem Sterling 2.1m
9 Luke Shaw 2m
T10 Theo Walcott & Jack Wilshere 1.9m

However, those numbers pale in comparison to the popularity of the biggest football accounts in the world.

Ronaldo takes to Instagram to express his delight at Portugal winning Euro 2016
Image: Ronaldo took to Instagram to express his delight at Portugal winning Euro 2016

Cristiano Ronaldo is the most-followed footballer on the planet with a massive 80.8m users signed up to see his latest posts.

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Pop star Justin Bieber showed off his keepy-uppies skills with Neymar on Instagram

That puts him well clear of his Barcelona rivals Neymar (61.4m) and Lionel Messi (58.4m).  

Most followed footballers on Instagram globally

Rank Player Followers
1 Cristiano Ronaldo 80.8m
2 Neymar 61.4m
3 Lionel Messi 58.4m
4 David Beckham 30.4m
5 James Rodriguez 26.7m
6 Gareth Bale 24m
7 Zlatan Ibrahimovic 21m
8 Ronaldinho 17.8m
9 David Luiz 14.9m
10 Marcelo 13.9m

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