Insights into the #WorldCup conversation on Twitter

Monday, 14 July 2014

As the #WorldCup drama unfolded on the pitch in Brazil, it also played out on Twitter in a big way: Football fans across the globe discussed every exhilarating and emotional moment as it happened.

After 64 thrilling matches, including yesterday’s dramatic World Cup Final, we’ve compiled the numbers and their visualizations that illustrate just how massive the Twitter conversation has been since the #WorldCup began on June 12.

1. There were 672 million Tweets sent related to the 2014 #WorldCup.

Whether the crowd was reacting to a big goal, predicting the outcome of the next match, or discussing the latest injury or controversy, fans came to Twitter to discuss the games 672 million times.

Insights into the #WorldCup conversation on TwitterWhile this is the highest number we’ve announced related to an event, it’s hard to compare the 32-day, 64-match World Cup to, for example, the single-game Super Bowl, the one-night Oscars, or the 16-day Olympics.

Every minute of every day it seemed fans across the globe were discussing the drama of the tournament, though we saw the conversation really take off during each live match. When a thrilling moment occurred on the pitch, the world came to Twitter to talk about it. These patterns are evident in our match totals and TPM peaks.

2. Fans shared the most during the Brazil vs Germany semi-final match.

Of the 672 million total Tweets, we saw the bulk of the conversation during the live matches. During the semi-final between Brazil (@CBF_Futebol) and Germany (@DFB_Team) fans sent more than 35.6 million Tweets — a new Twitter record for a single event. Here are the top five most-tweeted matches from the #WorldCup:

  1. Brazil (@CBF_Futebol) vs. Germany (@DFB_Team) on July 8: 35.6 million Tweets
  2. Germany (@DFB_Team) vs. Argentina (@Argentina) #WorldCupFinal on July 13: 32.1 million Tweets
  3. Brazil (@CBF_Futebol) vs. Chile (@ANFPChile) on June 28: 16.4 million Tweets
  4. Netherlands (@KNVB) vs. Argentina (@Argentina) on July 9: 14.2 million Tweets
  5. Brazil (@CBF_Futebol) vs. Colombia (@FCFSeleccionCol) on July 4: 12.4 million Tweets

3. Fans sent 618,725 TPM when Germany won the #WorldCupFinal.

Three of the top five most-tweeted moments occurred during Brazil’s devastating 7-1 semi-final loss to Germany on July 8, while the other top moments came in yesterday’s final match. Here are the top five moments that generated the biggest peaks of Twitter conversation, measured in Tweets per minute (TPM), during the entire tournament:

  1. Germany (@DFB_Team) defeats Argentina (@Argentina) to win the #WorldCupFinal on July 13: 618,725 TPM
  2. Germany’s Sami Khedira scores assisted by Mesut Özil in July 8 semi-final vs. Brazil: 580,166 TPM
  3. Germany’s Mario Götze (@MarioGoetze) scores game-winning goal in #WorldCupFinal on July 13: 556,499 TPM
  4. Germany’s Toni Kroos (@ToniKroos) scores his second goal of July 8 semi-final match vs. Brazil: 508,601 TPM
  5. @ToniKroos scores bringing the score to 3-0 in the July 8 semi-final match vs. Brazil: 497,425 TPM

4. Brazil’s Neymar Jr (@neymarjr) was the most-mentioned player.

Brazil’s Neymar Jr — injured in his team’s quarter-final defeat of Colombia — and Argentina’s Lionel Messi were the most mentioned players on Twitter during the #WorldCup. And thanks to the infamous biting incident, Uruguay’s Luis Suárez is the third most-mentioned player on Twitter during the entire tournament.

Insights into the #WorldCup conversation on Twitter


5. The #WorldCup conversation has been truly global.

The World Cup lived up to its name: Twitter conversation about the tournament has reached nearly every country across the globe. Click the map below to see how the games have played out on Twitter, with the entire tournament in 60 seconds, from beginning to end:

Insights into the #WorldCup conversation on Twitter

Click image above to explore the interactive map.

You can even explore individual games too with our maps for each match:

6. The #World Cup happened on Twitter.

From bicycle kicks to spectacular saves, the #WorldCup had it all. Relive the most exciting moments from the Twitter real-time global viewing party with this video: