Euro 2012: Which teams are using Social Media?

On the eve of the Euro 2012 Championships Digital-Football.com takes a look at how the tournament international teams are represented on Social Media. Whilst England’s chances of winning on the pitch may be lower than usual, the 3 Lions side certainly outperform any other nation on Social Media – with an incredibly active (and popular) Facebook and Twitter presence. England lead in both Facebook Likes and Twitter followers with 1.4 million and 166k followers respectively. Elsewhere Croatia, Portugal and Denmark enter the competition without any recognisable social media presence – with the latter banning their players from social entirely. Spain’s Twitter ban lasted just 3 days until it was lifted whilst England captain Steven Gerrard revealed that players had been warned to “not tweet unnecessarily”.

Whilst international football doesn’t quite have the wealth and commercialisation that club football has, it doesn’t excuse a lack of presence. We previously reported that football clubs had an accumulated 28.7 million Twitter followers, yet Euro 2012 struggles to get past even half a million with a paltry 482k. Whilst international football might not have the same appeal as it once might, it does have a national population to attract. Social Media activation with the right content and strategy can go a long way to build a stronger sense of patriotism during the competition. Simple videos of former glories, national icons, the best tournament goals are all quick ways to enthuse would-be fans and get them interested. The benefits of this? Hopefully in the short term increased sales in merchandise and in the long term – ticket sales.

Euro 2012 Official Page

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/uefaeuro2012 (369k)

Twitter: N/A

Facebook: N/ACroatia

Twitter: N/A

Czech Republic

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/narodak (25,497)

Twitter: N/A

Denmark

Facebook: N/A

Twitter: N/A

England

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EnglandTeam (1.4 million)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/thefadotcom (166,202)

France

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/equipedefrance (586,893)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/FFFootball (2,638)

Germany

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DieNationalmannschaft (1.4 million)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/DFB_Team (129,833)

Greece

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/epo.gr (3,444)

Twitter: N/A

Italy

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FIGC (432,054)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Vivo_Azzurro (263)

Netherlands

Facebook: N/A

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/WebsiteKNVB (24,895)

Poland

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaczyNasPilka (11,646)

Twitter: N/A

Portugal

Facebook: N/A

Twitter: N/A

Republic of Ireland

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FAIOfficial (62,217)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/FAIreland (22,207)

Russia

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rfs.ru (658)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/official_rfs (1,179)

Spain

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RFEF (316,493)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/rfef_es (126,723)

Sweden

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nationalsporten (7,522)

Twitter: N/A

Ukraine

Facebook: N/A

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/FFU_OFFICIAL (55)

NOTE: It’s been rather difficult trying to determine whether some of these are authentic or not so do comment if you can confirm or if we’ve missed something. Thanks