Man Utd only third as top 20 football clubs with the most social media followers ranked

The world's best-supported football clubs have been ranked in terms of their follower count on social media, with Manchester United only coming in at third.

The dominance of United while under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson from 1986 to 2013 now seems like a distant memory, having previously been viewed as one of, if not the top, club in the world.

However, with the likes of David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ralf Rangnick, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and now Erik ten Hag at the helm, United have gradually slipped down the table.

The club currently sit seventh in the Premier League standings, having already dropped out of the Champions League after finishing rock bottom of Group A, but it isn't only the league table they've plummeted in.

A study by Football Benchmark has measured the total social media followers for top clubs across the world on Facebook. X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Weibo, with United only coming in at third.

The total figure of followers for United stands at around 224.5 million, with La Liga giants Real Madrid and Barcelona taking the top two spots.

Los Blancos top the table with 415 million, while Xavi's Barcelona come in just behind with 391.7 million.

The full table, which includes teams such as Paris Saint Germain, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, can be seen in the diagram below.

Social media followings via Football Benchmark

The followings for each club included in the graphic can be seen here:

1. Real Madrid - 415m followers
2. Barcelona - 391.7m followers
3. Man United - 224.5m followers
4. PSG - 189.6m followers
5. Man City - 156.3m followers
6. Chelsea - 151.7m followers
7. Juventus - 147.1m followers
8. Liverpool - 136.9m followers
9. Bayern - 130.7m followers
10. Arsenal - 104.1m followers
11. Tottenham - 95.3m followers
12. AC Milan - 70.3m followers
13. Inter Milan - 64.1m followers
14. Dortmund - 57.1m followers
15. Flamengo - 52.5m followers
16. Atletico Madrid - 50.9m followers
17. Al Ahly - 46.9m followers
18. Galatasaray - 44.9m followers
19. Al Nassr - 43.8m followers
20. Roma - 35.1m followers