Battle of football influencers delivers Australia’s Kai Trewin 100k Instagram followers
Football influencers are driving massive spikes in social media followers for low-profile players ahead of the 2026 World Cup. The trend began as a challenge to make lesser-known athletes famous, resulting in hundreds of thousands of new followers for players like Kai Trewin and Tim Payne.
Why it matters
This demonstrates the immense power of social media influencers to manufacture viral fame and alter the public profile of professional athletes overnight.
Australia’s Kai Trewin has amassed thousands of Instagram followers after football creator RubikayTV challenged his fans to support the low-profile player. Photograph: Tim Warner/Getty Images for Soccer Australia View image in fullscreen Australia’s Kai Trewin has amassed thousands of Instagram followers after football creator RubikayTV challenged his fans to support the low-profile player. Photograph: Tim Warner/Getty Images for Soccer Australia World Cup 2026 Battle of football influencers delivers Australia’s Kai Trewin 100k Instagram followers Campaign to make Socceroo ‘Cristiano Ronaldo of World Cup’
The article provides a factual account of a social media trend without taking a stance on the validity of the influencers' actions.
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