CORNERFLICK
Cape Verde goalkeeper Wojinha has passed 20 million Instagram followers after helping push his country’s World Cup match against Argentina into extra time.
His rise has been one of the tournament’s biggest off-field stories. Before the competition, he had about 50,000 followers. By Saturday, that number had surged beyond 20.6 million.
The jump began after Cape Verde’s match with Spain, when his saves drew attention from fans across different countries. He then added more stops against Argentina, including several from Lionel Messi, and made scoring hard throughout the game.
Wojinha’s following now sits above several major national teams, including Argentina, Spain and France. He also has more followers than Tottenham, Atletico Madrid and Inter on the platform.
The Cape Verde keeper’s audience has already moved beyond the population of his country, and he said the attention means “the whole world now knows Cape Verde.”