From penalties awarded and scored, to the oldest player to ever play and score a hat trick to the longest streak without a goalless draw, the 21st FIFA World Cup, Russia 2018, has been a record breaking one thus far.
But it is not just on the pitch that these records have been set, as has been revealed by world football governing body, FIFA.
According to a report by FIFA, Russia 2018 has set another milestone, after the body’s digital and social media platforms experienced record-breaking interest and interactions from fans around the world.
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Latest record provided shows that the group stages alone saw well over 130 million visitors to their official website, and associate applications.
There has also been a massive surge in terms of ‘followership’ on their social media platforms, with over 10 million new fans for a total of over120 million followers.
“Since the start of the tournament, over ten million new fans have joined official World Cup accounts of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, VKontakte, Youtube and Weibo,” a statement by FIFA said.
Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram account for 120million followers, while VKontakte gained its one millionth follower.
Stating further on the secret behind the feat, the football governing body says it was part of an overall plan to engage with more people around the world.
“It is [also] the result of a number of digital initiatives introduced before the tournament to ensure fans are more connected and engaged more than ever before on and off the pitch,” it added.
Meanwhile, another trick used by FIFA is deployment of a team of over thirty reporters, covering the competition in 16 different languages, and a community management service to help answer whatever questions thrown at them.
Visual stories and match reports in international sign language have also been a handy tool by FIFA in their bid to not only reach more people but increase visibility.
The result? Over 200 thousand fans engaged on Twitter and Facebook, with over a 100 thousand questions answered.
