Love is blind, and which are the most popular football clubs in the world

Last Sunday I, like many, was watching the UEFA EURO 2024 final between Spain and England. Being a neutral fan, I had no preferences. I had my reasons to root for both sides.

I played Predictor and Fantasy Football with my friends during the EURO and approached the final with contrasting fortunes in the two games. In Predictor, I was sitting top of the league and went for Spain to win 1:0 as they were the favourites and I expected to preserve my lead. In Fantasy, I was trailing the leader by 20 points and needed to risk so I fielded Jordan Pickford and a full set of England defenders hoping they would keep one more clean sheet and propel me to the top of the table miraculously.

As you probably know, England lost 2-1 dashing my Fantasy Football hopes. And although I had correctly predicted the outcome and the goal difference in Predictor, I still came second because my biggest rival was awarded 5 bonus points for predicting Harry Kane to become the competition’s top scorer. Twice beaten, twice shy.

The goal that crowned Spain EURO 2024 champions ??????#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/3DvO9wSY9q

— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 16, 2024

Mikel Oyarzabal makes it 2-1 for Spain in the EURO 2024 final

But as I was watching the final, I had more practical reasons to root for Spain because winning Predictor was worth 200 euros while finishing top of the Fantasy league would have brought me a hundred.

Expecting to watch a good game and marvel at Lamine Yamal, I found myself rooting for England. To my surprise and with no explanation.

I only support Latvian (that is where I come from) national teams and athletes in international competitions. I have never been an England fan, and their football at EURO 2024 was far from beautiful – unlike Spain’s fluid passing game! Yes, I prefer EPL over other top leagues but could that be the reason? I doubt it.

How do we become fans of a particular team? Because it comes from our neighbourhood, our town, or our nation. Because our father or grandpa took us to their match when we were seven. Because we saw them playing bold football, scoring a cracker, or coming back from three goals down. I can relate to that.

?????#EURO2024 | #ESPENG pic.twitter.com/CcLQIsxApU

— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 14, 2024

But sometimes you realise you are rooting for a team with whom you have no obvious connection. What was it then? Something in their history? Something in your childhood? Or maybe because you liked their fans’ performances and chants? Or did the synapses in your brain connect neurons in a certain way because it is just how the Universe works?

Love is blind. Football love is no different. We do not get to choose who we root for, we feel it. Unless we are heartless glory hunters who support Liverpool on Saturday and Man United on Sunday.

My first emotional football experience was in 1994 when I was twelve. I hardly knew any players or teams back then but the landlord of our summer house invited me to watch the FIFA World Cup final with his family as we were friends with his kids.

Sitting in front of a small TV, I felt I had to pick a side. I went for the team in blue just because I liked the colour. Fast forward two hours and my heart was pounding because it was 0-0 after extra time and the game went to the penalty shoot-out. It was 3-2 for the team in yellow, and a player in a blue jersey, with a ponytail had to make it to level the score. He fired over. Yellow players were hugging and screaming out of joy, and I buried my face in my hands to hide my first football tears…

Do you expect this to be a story of how I became an Italy fan?

I have never rooted for them again.

Penalty shootout between Brazil and Italy in 1994 FIFA World Cup final

I’ve counted the clubs’ followers on four major social media platforms. For X, I’ve summed up their biggest language-specific profiles to get a bigger picture. All the figures are in millions, and I’ve only included those 18 clubs that have a total of over 50m followers. Minor approximations were made. The data is relevant as of 17 July 2024.