Nigeria has emerged as Africa’s second most obsessed country in football in Africa by related online searches. This is according to the results of a new study by the football predictions platform The Daily Punt. According to the results, Nigerians searched for football-related topics 75.02 million times during the World Cup month.
South Africa emerged as the most football-obsessed country in Africa, with football lovers searching for related topics 122 million times in a single month. This is far ahead of Nigeria or any other country.
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Kenya comes third with nearly 63 million online searches, while Ghana is in fourth position with 24.15 million searches. Ethiopia completes the top five with 20.3 million searches. It was indeed an irony that three of the top five countries that recorded the highest online football-related searches during the World Cup did not even play in it.
Algeria emerged top of the next five with 17.71 million searches, as once again the country failed to win a single match at the World Cup. Cameroon, with 4.25 million searches, Cote d’Ivoire (2.35 million), Senegal (2.02 million) and Guinea, with 610,670 searches, completed the top 10.
While Nigeria may not have topped the list for online searches, the country nonetheless emerged with the most football fans, with 82.5 million Nigerians identifying as football fans. This is nearly double the 42 million fans recorded in South Africa with emerged in second place, and Ethiopia, in third place, with 38 million fans.
Kenya is in fourth place with 24.3 million fans, while Algeria, with 22.35 million, completed the top 5. Others are Ghana (17.11 million), Côte d’Ivoire (13.75 million), Cameroon (13.6 million), Senegal (11.34 million), and Guinea (6.03 million).
Similarly, Nigeria emerged top on the ranking of countries with the most professional footballers, with 1,738 professionals. Algeria comes second on this ranking with 1,205 footballers, while Ghana is ranked third with 1,051 professional footballers recorded. Cameroon is fourth with 965 recorded professional footballers, while Côte d’Ivoire completes the top five with 895 pro football players.
Senegal has 804 recorded players according to the report, South Africa with 541 pro players, Kenya with 409, Guinea with 386 and Ethiopia with 114 professional players, completing the top 10.
For the number of football clubs in the country, Nigeria with 88 clubs came third behind Algeria with 124 football clubs and Ghana with 94. Ethiopia with 50 is fourth, Cameroon with 46 is fifth, while South Africa, with 43, is in sixth. Others are Kenya with 36, Cote d’Ivoire with 33, Senegal with 31 and Guinea with 24.
The study analysed fan numbers, professional players, stadiums, and search activity to determine which nations live and breathe football the most.
The study ranked African countries across key activity indicators. The number of football fans and searches for all football-related terms captured everyday engagement with the sport, while professional player counts and registered clubs reflected the strength of each nation’s football infrastructure. The study also looked at how many stadiums each country has and how many fans they can hold.
