June 24 – There’s a second competition running alongside this World Cup, and that’s the battle for social media supremacy, where France has just reclaimed the lead.

In the latest Sports Social Pulse rankings, developed by the University of South Carolina’s Social Media Insights Lab with Sports Business Journal, France has overtaken Argentina to return to No. 1 after slipping to second last week. The USMNT held firm at No. 11 following their progress to the knockout stage. The figures were compiled before Monday’s games.

The rankings measure how national teams perform across the major platforms, including audience size, visibility, engagement, growth, and overall cross-platform reach. Argentina dropped to second, with Portugal, Brazil, and England completing the top five. Colombia, Mexico, Germany, Spain, and Morocco rounded out the top 10.

Here’s a number worth pausing on. The World Cup is one of the great accelerators of online growth, with top teams adding 10-14% to their audiences in just 17 days. That’s roughly a year’s worth of growth in a fortnight.

France’s return to the summit was driven by TikTok, where the federation has nailed behind-the-scenes content featuring player personalities, training clips, and lighter lifestyle moments that keep fans hooked. Argentina, meanwhile, leaned on Lionel Messi, whose hat-trick against Algeria lit up timelines and added more than 4 million new followers, the most of any side.

It makes for a neat split. France leads on performance and consistency; Argentina leads on sheer scale.

And let’s not overlook Morocco. After beating Scotland and drawing with Brazil, the Atlas Lions are again in the top 10 and have become one of the tournament’s genuine emerging brands.

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