Getting to know Lionel Messi, Bukayo Saka, and Cristiano Ronaldo is a feat usually only achievable by being one of the best footballers in the world – and evidently, Kim Kardashian.
That’s right, the global reality television sensation is never far from the front page and has recently made a habit of trying to appear on the back of newspapers after popping up at matches and posing with the sport’s biggest stars.
Kardashian meets Cristiano isn’t the latest Netflix sensation or a new fashion collaboration, but in the world of modern day celebrities it shouldn’t come as a surprise to see social media’s biggest names rubbing shoulders.
Since hit reality television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians boomed onto screens in 2007, Kim – like the rest of her family – has seen her celebrity status rise and soaking in the global spotlight of football appears to be the next best-loved venture of the American icon.
The term ‘superfan’ is reserved for the most committed supporters who follow their team through thick and thin, but Kim K and her entourage consisting of seven-year-old son, Saint, are coining the label as they travel around the globe, meeting the football’s biggest names and being given unfettered behind-the-scenes access.
Global celebrity Kim Kardashian has ventured into the world of football on a whistle-stop tour to meet some of the sport’s biggest stars
Kardashian (middle) and her son, Saint (right) have been travelling to some of the world’s biggest clubs
Saint West (right) and his friends got the chance to meet Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe
It all started in north London with Kardashian and Co turning up at Arsenal for a Europa League knockout stage clash against Sporting Lisbon in March.
The hosts would eventually lose the tie on penalties and were knocked out of Europe’s second-tier competition but a first major stadium had been ticked off the reality superstar’s checklist.
Arriving at the Emirates in March, Kardashian was presented with a personalised shirt by the club
In a stadium littered with footballers boasting seven-figure bank accounts, millions of followers and luxury cars, Kardashian was arguably the most high-profile name inside the Emirates, with players in a strange role reversal as they found themselves asking for photo opportunities.
It was lights, camera, action as Kardashian shared a picture to her Instagram Stories, the TV personality jested that her 348million followers ‘send help’ as she prepared to watch the sporting event.
Gunners striker Eddie Nketiah even made his way up to one of the glitzy executive boxes, presenting Kim and a group of youngsters with an Arsenal home strip emblazoned with ‘Kardashian 1’ on the back.
Whether Arsenal’s American guests even knew who Nketiah was or not doesn’t matter, the Kardashian’s had kick-started their global football tour and clubs marketing teams were put on red alert.
So much is her status as one of the world’s biggest names that she even found her way into Bukayo Saka’s contacts list as the pair later shared a facetime call and the Arsenal forward spoke with Kardashian’s son.
A plot twist has seen mystic sections of Arsenal supporters blame the visit as the reason why Mikel Arteta’s side snuffed the Premier League title race.
The Gunners maintained their stranglehold at the peak of the English top-flight for over 90 per cent of the season, but following Kardashian’s stop-over the Gunners fell away, initially beating Crystal Palace and Leeds before consecutive draws against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton followed.
From London to Paris, probably not via the Eurostar like most, Kardashian and her football-obsessed son rocked up at the Parc des Princes as they sought introductions with Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Messi.
The reality television star was even able to get hold of Arsenal and England winger Bukayo Saka on facetime
Before kick-off, striker Eddie Nketiah gave Kim an Arsenal shirt with ‘Kardashian 1’ on the back
Just days after cheering on Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain were backed in their Ligue 1 meeting with Stade Rennais as the 42-year-old TV personality was further joined in the French capital by her half-sister Kendall Jenner.
Unfortunately the proposed Kardashian curse failed to wear off as the Ligue 1 champions lost their first French top-flight encounter in 715 days.
The Kardashian and Jenner pair drank wine and indulged in hospitality freebies while also being treated to a pitchside visit before kick-off.
More snaps followed post-match with those in attendance given the rare opportunity to meet PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi who handed over a match shirt inscribed with ‘Kim 1’ as the celebrity posted the picture on her Instagram alongside the caption ‘thank you so much PSG for making our kids dreams come true’.
Customary photo opportunities with Mbappe and other stars took place as the paparazzi’s obsession with the Kardashian’s football appearances continued to build momentum.
Heading back Stateside, an adult setting at a Hamptons summer party attended by the elite also featured France’s World Cup winning striker and Kardashian wanted to make sure to follow-up on their first meeting back in Europe.
The pair – who combined boast just under 500m Instagram followers – posed while dressed in all white for a photo at Rick Stein’s star-studded party.
An adults-only trip saw Kim K (right) party with Mbappe (left) at an exclusive event in the Hamptons
From London to Paris, Kim and her son (both left) travelled to PSG just days after appearing at Arsenal
Kardashian (right) joined Manchester City striker Erling Haaland (middle) at a sponsored event
Kim K racked up further air miles by travelling back to Europe five days later with media commitments at fashion brand Dolce and Gabbana seeing her join one of Manchester City’s treble-winning stars in Italy.
Erling Haaland, fresh from sealing the Champions League with Pep Guardiola’s side, appeared at the sponsored event after wild celebrations kick-started his summer holidays.
The Norwegian talent stunned Premier League defences with his ridiculous rise to the peak of the English top-flights goalscoring charts and Kardashian couldn’t pass up the opportunity of adding another world-class footballer to her Instagram collection.
Haaland decked out in an all-blue suit stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the trendsetter 19-years his senior as they helped promote the luxury fashion brands’ latest collection.
By this stage Kardashian’s growing array of personalised shirts and selfies was rivaling the most star-studded Panini sticker-book collection, but there were still two gaping holes in the form of arguably the greatest players to ever feature in the game: Messi and Ronaldo.
When you look back at the evolution of football in the last 20 years, the blurred lines between entertainment and business have clearly merged. Football is a business, for a lot of owners the entertainment value is secondary, there is simply no escaping it.
Kardashian (right) also featured at Lionel Messi’s recent debut at his new club Inter Miami
The Kardashians are growing a star-studded collection of signed shirts after getting autographed tops from Neymar (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo (right)
No Miami meeting with Messi followed but Kim K was in the stands for his debut in the States
The ridiculous fees players and personalities earn through posting on their feeds offers an insight into why Kardashian appears to have become one of football’s biggest fans.
As Messi decided to snub a return to Barcelona in favour of joining MLS side Inter Miami, it was inevitable that a host of American-based stars would turn up for his unveiling.
Lebron James greeted the Argentinian, David and Victoria Beckham welcomed the World Cup-winning captain to his new surroundings and Kardashian took her place in the stands.
But no post-match introduction followed as Messi announced touchdown in the States with a goal on his debut and a rare photo opportunity for Kardashian drifted past.
When you don’t get one superstar you make sure to get the other and flying to Japan just days later as Al-Nassr continued their global pre-season travel saw her land next to Ronaldo.
It says something about Ronaldo’s status as arguably the world’s biggest celebrity that Kardashian’s Instagram following is made to look small next to the near-600m people keeping track of the Portuguese star’s Instagram.
A drab goalless draw in Osaka followed but Ronaldo was in fine spirits after playing 90 minutes and took time out of his evening to meet Kardashian and her son, Saint, in the echelons of the Nagai Stadium.
Ronaldo beamed as he saw the effect his star status had on the seven-year-old football fanatic and recreated his iconic ‘siuuu’ celebration with him in a heart-warming moment caught on camera.
Kim Kardashian’s son Saint and his friend were lucky enough to meet up with Cristiano Ronaldo after Al-Nassr’s friendly against PSG
Saint even got to perform the legendary forward’s classic ‘Siuuu’ celebration with the player
And so Kim K’s global hunt for selfies and signatures concluded, at least for the meantime anyway, with some of football’s biggest names forever etched in the TV personality’s social media profiles.
You can’t deny Kardashian’s business nous with her latest decision to tap into the riches of football exposing her to a new global fanbase and further potential sponsorship and marketing deals.
Does she really enjoy football? Who knows, but in less than a year Kardashian has come face-to-face with more icons of the game than most supporters ever will.
It leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth, but successful marketing ploys can bring in serious revenue and to the boardroom bigwigs of mega clubs that is one of the only things that matter.
