The victory of the Brazilian women’s volleyball team over Italy in the Nations League, last Sunday, was not limited to the court. The match broke the Italians’ 39-game unbeaten streak and dominated conversations on Brazilian social media.
A Nexus survey shows that the game accumulated 3.4 million interactions — likes, comments and shares — on X, Instagram and Facebook alone. The number represents a 2,481% jump compared to the women’s football team’s friendly against the United States, held on Saturday and which recorded 134,500 interactions.
On X, a sample of 194 thousand mentions in Portuguese of the volleyball match, made by around 38 thousand users between Sunday and Monday, generated 17 million impressions and more than 1.4 million interactions. The reach was 943% higher than that of the women’s football game, which totaled 1.63 million impressions in the same 24-hour period.
The repercussion was so strong that “Itália” topped the trending topics in Brazil on Monday morning. Terms related to the game, such as central Diana and winger Ana Cristina — one of the main highlights of the victory — were also among the most talked about topics.
The low performance of women’s football on the networks may have been influenced by the fact that the friendly match took place at the same time as the men’s game Brazil x Egypt, which divided the public’s attention.
Why women’s volleyball attracts more attention
Brazilian women’s volleyball has built a solid fan base over the years, with Olympic and world victories and a constant presence in high-level competitions. The Nations League, in particular, has generated balanced and dramatic games, such as the tie-break against Italy, which amplify interest.
This difference in engagement reinforces volleyball’s potential as one of the most identified sports among women and young people in Brazil, even in a packed football calendar.