MOSCOW: World Cup fans have helped FIFA top the digital league tables during the first round of matches at Russia 2018.
FIFA’s coverage has pushed the FIFA app to the top of the charts in over 100 countries. 32 team reporters, followed by more than 200,000 fans across 16 languages on Twitter, have continuously fed the daily live blogs – with a dedicated blog for every game of the tournament – leading to 60 million visits. These numbers have seen FIFA.com climb above the rest of the world’s footballing websites to reach the No1 spot.
Fans have also loved the games and experiences on FIFA’s digital platforms. From the Budweiser Man of the Match voting to the McDonald’s FIFA World Cup Fantasy, 10 million players have engaged in FIFA’s Fan Zone.
More than 4 million new fans have joined the official World Cup accounts of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, VKontakte and Weibo, putting FIFA ahead of all 32 team accounts. The number of followers of the official FIFA World Cup Instagram account alone has increased by more than 50% over the last year.
A new initiative has also seen the channels talking directly with fans, helping visitors to Russia get the most out of their trips. A new way of storytelling, through visual stories, also provides better and easier access to FIFA’s content in short-form, while a match report for every game has been made available in international sign language.
