Who are the top soccer creators to watch ahead of 2022 World Cup?

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If 2022 couldn’t get any stranger, the 2022 World cup will be the first winter World Cup in the northern hemisphere. For good reason, of course. The tournament will take place in November and December to avoid the intense heat of the Qatari summer.

Whether you’re a football (soccer for those of you in the States) casual that watches only every four years or a die-hard, if you’re like me, you pine for those beautiful summers filled with the beautiful game. 

For me, World Cup soccer brings back so many memories—the highs and lows of national team football—including the soccer tournaments with family and friends in the yard and watching our beloved Azzurri on a screen outside. 

Being born in 1985, I was too young to see Italy’s 1982 World Cup win, just five years old when we finished third place in 1990 in the motherland, so the 1994 tournament on US soil was really the first time I knew what was going on. 

1994 became a defining year for my football life as Roberto Baggio blasted that PK over the crossbar in the final amongst 94,000 in the Rose Bowl to lose in the World Cup final to Romario, Dunga, Bebeto, and a strong Brazil squad. 

I tasted defeat. I felt defeat. It hurt. Bad.

Not until the summer of 2006 would I know the taste of victory. The pride of the nation I love. Belting out the anthem, dancing in the streets, and waving the flags around the neighborhood.

So this summer, without a summer World Cup tournament, how can we feel the feels? After all, we should be watching the World Cup right now!

In today’s world, we’re fortunate to have so much content available at our fingertips. And with all of that content comes so many amazing creators spending every day entertaining and educating their audiences, for free! 

I highlighted Troopz and Expressions in another blog post, so I won’t mention them below, but here are the top soccer creators you need keep your eyes on leading up to and during the upcoming World Cup. 

Lisa Freestyle

We can’t have a serious list without the French-Algerian nutmeg Queen, Lisa Freestyle. Lisa Zimouche aka Lisa Freestyle is the most followed female freestyler in the world. She’s a world champion freestyle footballer and a huge advocate for gender equality. Lisa started out on the Paris Saint-Germain youth academy, but everything changed when she found freestyle and street football. She gained international acclaim on the internet in 2017 when performed alongside professional footballers like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ronaldinho, Paul Pogba, Gianluigi Buffon and even Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and rapper Drake.

Some of the brands she’s worked with include Puma, Paris Saint-Germain, FashionNova and FIFA.

Raquel Freestyle

Hailing from Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Brazilian freestyle footballer is easily one of the most recognizable in the game. Raquel will perform her freestyle acts anywhere from trade shows to gala dinners and corporate events. She is a national sports ambassador representing Brazil all over the world.

Some of the brands she’s worked with include VISA, Nike, Visit Qatar, and FIFA.

BR Football

This list wouldn’t be a serious list without BR Football. 

BR’s The Champions animated series is incredible and easily one of the best pieces of sports content out there. 

IFTV - Italian Football TV

I love these guys. Maybe I’m biased because I follow Italian Calcio, but they really do a great job.

They’ve worked so hard to bring Serie A to America and it’s paying off. Starting in their grandfather's garage and keeping it in the family is what makes their coverage feel so familiar. It’s like having your soccer-crazed family all together talking about the beautiful game.

Co-founder Marco Messina was brought on to Paramount+ for their Serie A coverage. 

Serie A itself is a partner of IFTV. 

They’ve even partnered up with a few teams to create content and expand the leagues’ US reach.

Mark Goldbridge That’s Football

A police officer turned YouTube pundit, Brent Di Cesare (aka Mark Goldbridge) started The United Stand in 2014, providing videos on Premier League match predictions. He then switched his content to post-match reactions of Manchester United games. Later, Goldbridge started live streaming "watchalongs" of the matches. BBC Sport has even described these as "an amateur online version of Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday".

Mark’s watchalong’s are incredible. It’s like watching a match at an English pub from the comfort of your home. Here’s his Euro 2020 watchalong. Feel free to fast-forward to PK’s to get a look at the ups and downs of the beautiful game from an English perspective.

Tifo Football by the Athletic

Tifo Football was founded in 2017 and by 2020 became part of The Athletic. 

The videos do a great job of providing analysis on the game itself across the major leagues: Premier League, Champions League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, the World Cup, and plenty more. 

Tifo goes in-depth on subjects from tactics to history and even geopolitical breakdowns of the game. Their editorial work is unmatched and the podcasts have amazing guests.

433

433 is founded by Ralph de Geus, an entrepreneur who builds massive social media brands. 433 has a beautiful presence on both Instagram and TikTok.

433 is named after the popular and flexible football formation, and their content mimics that. Football is a lifestyle and 433 treats are that way.

The Coaches Voice

A criminally underrated channel. Their Masterclass series brings you some of the world’s best coaches to talk tactics, break down the game and help you understand some of the matches that mean the most to them.

This channel isn’t like the others but provides so much real-world knowledge of the game that it should make it to your list.

If you’re like me, this is the content you don’t get anywhere else that is truly fascinating.

Honorable Mention

• ‍COPA90‍
• Piotr Foot‍
• FTBL‍
• Versus

It’s really an incredible time to be a fan of this beautiful game. There are so many creators giving us content every day that it’s hard to name them all. 

Who are your favorites? 

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