Chris Wood
New Zealand · FW · Nottingham Forest · @woodsy39 · 174,400 followers · Updated 20 August
Chris Wood gained 9.9K Instagram followers during the FIFA World Cup 2026, peaking +2K on 17 June. The biggest jump lined up with New Zealand's match against Iran (2–2).
The story behind the spike
Follower growth is rarely random. Behind every spike is a story, a moment or a conversation that captured attention beyond the pitch. Explore the posts, performances and cultural moments driving the tournament's biggest social breakthroughs.
Follower gain
Followers all time
+9.9 K
Driven by the pitch
Started a 2–2 draw with Iran.
Match
vs Iran 2–2
Own
9 posts, 211.7 K engagement
Featured
5 posts, 688.6 K exposure
→ Timing + reach attribution, not causation. “Featured by others” = tracked accounts only; fan/media pages and off-platform land in Unattributed.
Sources: match stats — ESPN · Man of the Match — Wikipedia/FIFA · followers — daily snapshots · Own & Featured — tracked-player posts (tags / mentions / collabs)
Key moments
The biggest single-day follower gains, and what drove each one.
16 June · +1.6K followers
- Match: Started a 2–2 draw with Iran.
- Own posts: 1 post, 16.9K engagement.
- Featured: 2 posts featuring him, 104.7K exposure, by @callum_mccowatt, @elijah_just.
19 June · +1.3K followers
- Own posts: 1 post, 2.3K engagement.
22 June · +626 followers
- Match: Started a 1–3 loss to Egypt.
- Own posts: 1 post, 33.4K engagement.
Frequently asked
- How many Instagram followers does Chris Wood have?
- As of 20 August, Chris Wood has 174,400 Instagram followers.
- How much did Chris Wood grow on Instagram during the World Cup 2026?
- Chris Wood gained 9.9K Instagram followers during the FIFA World Cup 2026, from 164,511 to 174,400.
- When did Chris Wood gain the most followers?
- Chris Wood's biggest single-day gain was +2K followers on 17 June.
Other New Zealand players
How we measure
social performance*
Traditional tournament rankings measure performance on the pitch. We wanted to understand performance in the feed. Our rankings track audience growth across Instagram, analysing how players gain attention throughout the tournament and identifying the moments driving that growth.
Chris Wood is one of 1,200+ players Phainos tracked across the FIFA World Cup 2026. See how they rank in the full Breakthrough Ranking.
View the Breakthrough Report →*All figures are drawn from publicly visible Instagram and TikTok data, captured in daily snapshots. Follower counts can fluctuate as platforms remove inactive or flagged accounts, so daily figures may revise slightly. We don't access private metrics, paid reach, or platform-internal data. This is an independent analysis by Phainos and is not affiliated with FIFA, any federation, or any player.
Bring us your hardest question.
If there's something about your brand, category or audience that your current tools can't answer, that's where we start.