Football · Facebook Groups
The Digital Poles: Mapping Egypt's Football Fan Communities
An in-depth analysis of 37.5 million members across 392 Facebook groups for Al Ahly and Zamalek supporters, dissecting patterns of concentration, engagement, diaspora, and group governance.
Sia · Public metadata from Facebook groups, October 2026.
A 100-Seat Grandstand: Virtual Proportional Representation
If we scaled the online fanbases into a single 100-seat stadium, how would the seats be divided across key metrics? Select an indicator below to explore the digital balance.
Zamalek supporters rely on wide network fragmentation across many groups, giving them the edge in gross membership. Al Ahly supporters concentrate heavily in mega-communities: ten groups hold 43% of total Ahly membership vs 23.5% for Zamalek.
The Digital Balance: Volume vs Network Concentration
Examining the digital base reveals two completely distinct organizational strategies between the supporters of Egypt's two sporting giants.
While Zamalek supporters hold the largest group count (245 groups representing 62.5% of all communities), reaching 19.94 million total members, Al Ahly displays a highly centralized pattern across just 146 groups with 17.53 million members.
Average Density per Community
The Dual Giants: Total Volume vs Distribution
- Group Count:
- 146 groups
- Member Share:
- 46.8%
- Largest Group:
- 1.13M members
- Group Count:
- 245 groups
- Member Share:
- 53.2%
- Largest Group:
- 711k members
Community Vitality: The Silence of Millions and Sparks of Engagement
Sheer volume does not always translate to sustained conversation. Combined communities generated 20,244 posts on the observation day, but engagement reveals sharp polarization: vibrant hubs operating alongside digital "ghost towns".
Daily Post Volume
- Al Ahly: 9,934 posts(49.1%)
- Zamalek: 10,308 posts(50.9%)
The "Ghost Town" Phenomenon
Recorded 0 posts on the observation day, despite accumulating 1.39 million registered members.
The Vocal Few
Just 48 groups (12% of total) generate three-quarters of all daily posts, led by dedicated news feeds.
Activity Distribution Across All 392 Communities
Each square represents one Facebook group
Diaspora Geography: The Derby Abroad and Migration Maps
The rivalry is not confined by Egyptian borders; fan identity travels abroad with migrant labor and expatriate communities.
Data tracking reveals 15 groups located explicitly outside Egypt, gathering 1.21 million members across Italy, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, North America, and Turkey.
Location corresponds to declared page data; 271 of the 392 groups do not declare an external city, making these figures conservative minimums.
Zamalek's Prominence in the Diaspora
Out of 1.21 million members in these diaspora groups, 84% belong to Zamalek communities (notably in Italy and Saudi Arabia), while the 8 Al Ahly groups abroad account for only 16%.
Grandstand Governance: Public Arenas vs Closed Doors
Communities divide between open Public access and Private gating, with closed groups exhibiting much lower average daily activity.
- Average activity: 55 posts/day per group
- Largest public group: "100 Million Ahly Fans" (847k members)
- Average activity: 17 posts/day per group
- Largest private community: "Proud Ahly Group" (1.13M members)
Methodological Notes
- Source: Public metadata from 392 Facebook groups. One unclassified group (50,750 members) is included in gross totals but excluded from club comparisons.
- "Posts" represents newly posted content on the single observation day, a point-in-time snapshot rather than a longitudinal average.
- Membership tallies reflect figures reported by Facebook at the time of observation, which may include duplicate or inactive user accounts.
- Group location corresponds to the admin-declared city on each group's public about page.