Unknown before the World Cup: He has more than twice as many followers as the five most-followed NHL players combined

Mathis Therrien
Unknown before the World Cup: He has more than twice as many followers as the five most-followed NHL players combined
Credit: Capture d'écran Twitter

Whether you like soccer or not, you have to admit that the World Cup is the most popular sporting event on the planet.

Soccer is the most widely played and popular sport in the world, as evidenced every four years by the famous World Cup.

It's an event that brings everyone together, giving dozens of countries the chance to shine on the international stage.

Whether it's Lionel Messi or an unknown player from Curaçao, every player gets the chance to play in the World Cup and make a name for themselves—if they haven't already, as is the case for some.

And that's exactly what happened earlier this week, when Cape Verde's 40-year-old goalkeeper, Vozinha, shone with excellence against European champion Spain.

Vozinha made seven saves, including six on shots from inside his penalty area, earning him praise from around the world and transforming him from an unknown to a hero in a matter of minutes.

And this wave of enthusiasm for Vozinha has spilled over onto social media, as the 40-year-old goalkeeper has gone from 50,000 Instagram followers to nearly 15 million today.

An absolutely mind-blowing surge in less than a week for a player who was a complete unknown to virtually everyone just a short time ago.

To give you an idea, in comparison to hockey, 15 million followers is double the COMBINED number of followers of the five most-followed NHL players: Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin, Auston Matthews, Jack Hughes, and Connor Bedard.

 

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It's absolutely crazy how big the popularity gap is between soccer and hockey, especially when a 40-year-old goalkeeper from Cape Verde—a tiny archipelago in Africa with a population of about 500,000—became a global star in just a few hours.

Vozinha has literally become the face of this 2026 World Cup so far, and we're all looking forward to seeing him in action again tomorrow at 6 p.m., when Cape Verde takes on Uruguay.

In short, it's impressive how hockey, which is so huge in North America, is simply nothing compared to soccer, which is a global phenomenon.

People from all over the world have flocked to Vozinha's Instagram account to follow him, making him more popular than any of the NHL's most popular players combined.


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