From Lionel Messi’s Argentina winning the World Cup to Cristiano Ronaldo’s shock transfer to Saudi-based Al Nassr, the world’s sports superstars frequently graced the headlines in 2022. But with all that coverage and notoriety, which athlete saw the largest increase in their fanbase?
Top 10 athletes who gained the most followers on Instagram in 2022
| Rank | Name | Profession | 2021 Instagram follower count | 2022 Instagram follower count | Overall increase 2021-2022 |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Footballer | 382,556,277 | 518,542,472 | 135,986,195 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Footballer | 293,193,175 | 398,265,263 | 105,072,088 |
| 3 | Neymar Jr | Footballer | 144,579,559 | 181,093,569 | 36,514,010 |
| 4 | LeBron James | Basketball player | 107,243,345 | 136,717,170 | 29,473,825 |
| 5 | Stephen Curry | Basketball player | 32,215,946 | 47,013,352 | 14,797,406 |
| 6 | Conor McGregor | UFC fighter | 38,066,554 | 46,223,374 | 8,156,820 |
| 7 | Canelo Álvarez | Boxer | 6,394,415 | 14,088,943 | 7,694,528 |
| 8 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Basketball player | 8,704,304 | 13,705,010 | 5,000,706 |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton | Formula One driver | 26,495,368 | 30,315,409 | 3,820,041 |
| 10 | Klay Thompson | Basketball player | 10,773,721 | 13,820,965 | 3,047,244 |
Cristiano Ronaldo gained the most followers in 2022, having attracted 135,986,195 followers. He’s now the most followed person on Instagram, taking his total to over 518 million – 120 million more than rival, Lionel Messi!
This year, Messi added 105,072,088 followers to his Instagram account, 30 million less than Ronaldo. However, Lionel Messi’s “Champions of the World” Instagram post is the most liked EVER on the platform, with 74.6 million likes and counting – dethroning the World Record Egg’s post that accumulated over 59 million likes.
Messi’s PSG team mate, Neymar Jr comes in third. Spellbinding performances in Ligue 1 were tempered by an upset in the World Cup quarter-finals to Croatia. A talented but controversial figure, he still received an impressive 36,514,010 followers in 2022 (over 9x more than honorary Brazilian, Lewis Hamilton)
Basketball players LeBron James and Stephen Curry take fourth and fifth spots respectively. Whilst Uber-famous in the United States, basketball’s global brand isn’t as wide reaching as that of football, and so LeBron James taking on 29,473,825 followers in 2022 is hugely impressive. Curry took on 14,797,406 followers (11,750,162 more than his Golden State Warriors team mate, Klay Thompson, in 10th place)
Talented tennis player Naomi Osaka has had an incredible 4 years, winning multiple Grand Slams as well as the Australian Open in 2021. However, due to health issues, she did not participate in Wimbledon this year, leading to more followers leaving her than joining her. In 2022, Osaka lost 89,488 followers, the only sports star within our seed list to lose followers.
Read: Lionel Messi’s FIFA World Cup winning post becomes the Most Liked Photo on Instagram
