The World Cup begins today, Thursday. For the German team, the tournament starts on Sunday (June 14) with the match against Curacao. Some players in the national team squad can hope for particularly strong support. Their follower numbers show who the fan favorites are.
Manuel Neuer leads the field
At the top, unsurprisingly, is Manuel Neuer with around 14.6 million Instagram followers. The former captain has already played in goal at four World Cups and was also on the field for the victory in 2014. In second place is Antonio Rüdiger, another long-time player for the German national team. He made his national team debut in 2014 and has since built up a community of 13.2 million followers. Completing the podium of internet stars is Leroy Sané, who is followed by nine million people. He joined the team in 2015. He experienced his first major tournament at the 2016 European Championship. In 2022, he played at a World Cup for the first time.
Just behind him is captain Joshua Kimmich. 8.6 million fans follow his Instagram posts. In 2024, he took over the captain's armband from İlkay Gündoğan after the latter left the national team. 7.3 million people are interested in Jamal Musiala - placing the German-British offensive player in fifth place. At the 2022 World Cup, he was one of the youngest players in the squad at 19 years old. Now he has been able to gain further experience at FC Bayern Munich in recent years.
These German stars also inspire millions
Also reaching the millions are Kai Havertz (6.2 million), Florian Wirtz (5 million), Leon Goretzka (2.4 million), and Nick Woltemade (1.1 million). The top ten is completed by Nico Schlotterbeck with a reach of around 689,000 followers. However, not every German player is present on social media: Pascal Groß, for example, forgoes an Instagram presence.
