In just a few hours, her latest video where she appears in tears in the Dallas stadium, after Portugal’s elimination against Spain, has received more than 2.5 million views. On social networks, it has now established itself as an essential phenomenon. Céline Dept, a 26-year-old Belgian videographer and former professional soccer player, became the most watched influencer in the world during the World Cup.
At the beginning of July, his YouTube channel reached a record figure of 1.1 billion views, surpassing the biggest known influencer, the American Mister Beast. While the latter had distinguished itself through spectacular challenges and philanthropic actions, Céline Dept opted for a simpler but extremely effective formula when the planet became passionate about football. Beyond following matches with her, she stages brief, joyful and playful meetings with world football stars on her YouTube, Instagram and TikTok channels (which have more than 92 million subscribers).
The recipe is always the same: Céline Dept offers Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal and Erling Haaland short sporting challenges around football, such as a penalty shootout, in which she participates. “Dept does not comment on matches or transfers. She sets up a ball, explains a rule understood in a second and lets the stars play. The context is reduced to a minimum” and it works, notes the Belgian daily Le Soir.
Her meeting in mid-June with Cristiano Ronaldo, her childhood idol, moved the Web, sparking tens of millions of reactions and helping to make her known even more widely.
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“It’s thanks to Ronaldo that Céline Dept, as a little girl, put on her own crampons. His room was covered with posters bearing his image,” indicates the Dutch-speaking Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws.
An empire built in two years
The native of Ostend (Flemish Belgium) has been present on social networks and platforms for many years. She began publishing videos in 2019. A reconversion after having stopped being a professional football player within the Cercle Bruges women’s B team. Her content posted on her boyfriend Michiel Callebaut’s channel already talks about football but is aimed at children, reports the Dutch-speaking Belgian daily De Tidj.
In 2023, it launches its own channels and develops its sports challenge concept. His videos are in English, which increases their virality internationally. Two years after its launch, its YouTube channel already has 50 million subscribers.
And the business turned out to be very profitable. The influencer is now part of the Double Tap agency, which brings together football content creators. She sometimes collaborates directly with clubs (such as PSG, Manchester City or Tottenham) as well as numerous brands. According to several Belgian media, the company CDMC Works which she founded with her partner around these influential activities would have generated a generous net profit of more than €840,000 in 2024.
