Caught The World Cup Fever? Here Are Some Stats That Prove You’re Not The Only One

The World Cup kicked off last Thursday and it’s safe to say in the few days it has been going on it has been exciting. Anyway, we are not here to talk about the soccer itself but instead, we will look at some stats that have been released by Google in relation to the World Cup and some interesting viewership stats…

Which players are being watched most on YouTube?

According to Google, watch time for videos that have Neymar Jr, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on YouTube increased by over 80% over the last year. If you’re a soccer fan this won’t come as a surprise at all as these are the most popular players in the world right now…

King Messi?

On the same platform, videos of Lionel Messi have been watched 10x more than videos of the reigning Basketball MVP, Russel Westbrook. That’s a bit of an unfair comparison for two reasons. NBA is nowhere near football in terms of following, as football is followed on a global scale whilst NBA is more of a stronghold in America and it’s following is not as strong globally. Secondly, Westbrook is not in the top 5 of basketball players (currently playing) whilst Messi is considered by many to be one of the greatest –if not the greatest- of all time.

Interest in off-field action is growing

According to Google, the majority of fans agreed that they expect to see what’s going on behind the scenes and off the field with the teams and athletes competing in the World Cup. This is no surprise as social media has given fans a much closer look at the players they idolise and thus the interest in the sport has grown from on-field to encompass every little thing that players are up to.

Zimbabwe’s Favourite Team…

From watch time of videos related to teams participating at the World Cup, it seems the most watched team by Zimbabweans is Brazil. This comes as no surprise as Brazil is the most decorated team in World Cup history and their style of football has made many fans fall in love with them. Brazil is also the most popular in the rest of Africa and most of Asia.

50% are ok with watching the game after it’s been played…

This was one of the more surprising stats on the list. Watching the World Cup live is important to fans, but more than half still plan to watch it at a later time.

This was a bit surprising until 70% of those who had said they watch later explained that they do so due to timing issues such as time zones, whilst others say they wanted the ability to fast forward games or watch highlights instead of the whole game.

The only problem with this stat is that Google didn’t disclose how many people actually took part in the survey, but its probably accurate because the people on the American continent will probably have trouble keeping up with the kick-off times for this World Cup.

Viewership on the rise…

Overall, the watch time of soccer recap videos on YouTube has doubled in the past two years. With the availability of data improving world-over and applications such as YouTube Go enabling more and more people to consume videos on YouTube, it only makes sense that viewership is on the rise…