Does Arsenal have the most fans?

Clubs and fans frequently appear in depictions of football in British culture, but Arsenal fans have come a long way; A 2005 report estimated Arsenal’s global fan base at 112 million, the third largest in the world.

Real Madrid and Barcelona were the two most valuable football clubs in the world in 2020 according to Forbes, which put their worth at over $4 billion (£2.8bn) each. Manchester United was not far behind at $3.8 billion (£2.7bn), while Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Chelsea rounded out the top five.

It’s nigh on impossible to get an exact figure on how many fans each club has, but looking at things such as shirt sales, stadium size, and social media followers helps to create a rough picture of popularity.

Before anyone reaches for the rage button, we must emphasize the word ‘rough’!

With that in mind, Goal takes a look at which football clubs have the most fans worldwide by taking into account a variety of factors.

Real Madrid and Barcelona are the football clubs with the most followers on social media across all the major channels, with no other team coming remotely close to the Clasico rivals.

Manchester United, a club that did not have an official Twitter account until April 2012 (three years after Liverpool), are the next most popular club online, but they are well behind Real and Barca.

Juventus follow the Red Devils, no doubt buoyed by the Cristiano Ronaldo effect, with just over 100 million followers.

Chelsea and Liverpool are next, with the Blues, perhaps surprisingly, marginally ahead of the six-time European champions.

Despite their relatively new stature among the traditional powerhouses of world football, Paris Saint-Germain’s online presence is considerable, with just under 100 million followers.

The French giants have social media clout that is comparable to that of Bayern Munich and bigger than that of Arsenal and Manchester City.

Seven-time European Cup winners AC Milan have to make do with a place outside of the top 10 with just over 40 million combined followers.

Milan’s following means that they occupy the same sort of ground as their rivals Inter, Premier League side Tottenham and Brazilian giants Flamengo, who all have followings in the region of 37-38 million.