Social media was once again the place to live and breathe every second of the tournament action when Euro 2016 enthralled audiences across the world over the course of a dramatic month of football in France.

There are always a few standout stars who drive the conversation on social media during a summer tournament, whether that be for a rip-roaring individual performance, controversy off the field or, as in Cristiano Ronaldo’s case this year, a moth choosing your face as the place for a pitstop. 

But with the curtain having fallen on the final at the Stade de France and Portugal crowned unexpected champions, who came out on top in the social media rankings?

NewsWhip have released data on the total number of Facebook interactions (likes, shares, and comments) on stories talking about individual players during Euro 2016, and it pulls up some very interesting points.

For an indication of just how stratospheric Dimitri Payet’s rise has been since the days of supplementing his football salary by working in a clothes shop, look no further than his 6th position in the rankings here. The scorer of that stunning winner in Les Bleus’ tournament opener ended Euro 2016 as a bigger centre of attention than Ibrahimovic, Hazard and Ozil.

Luka Modric is perhaps a surprise runner-up to Ronaldo in 2nd, ahead of Gareth Bale – even more so considering he generated more interactions than Bale from a lower number of articles written about him

Looking at the movers and shakers, it should come as no surprise that WIll Grigg tops the table for increase in share of the conversation.

The “Will Grigg’s On Fire” chant become a huge viral hit over the course of the tournament, making appearances in stadiums across France as well popping up in a Mats Hummels press conference – even Eric Cantona gave a slightly surreal bare-chested rendition of the song for Eurosport.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Jamie Vardy – both of whom you would have expected to become cult heroes of the tournament on social media had their respective teams advanced to the latter stages – both experienced a drop in engagement, tumbling down the rankings as their teams tumbled out of the tournament.

As for what the stories about these players were actually saying, the data reveals that behind-the-scenes articles accounted for 40 percent of the 30 articles with the most engagement.

Even in this all-access social media age, football fans’ hunger to see deeper and deeper into the lives of their heroes is as insatiable as ever.

It is normal that the players themselves form the focus of the attention on social media, but perhaps we are nearing the point where they are being talked about to death. With the moth that landed on Ronaldo’s face spawning a multitude of Twitter profiles within minutes of its appearance in the limelight and social media increasingly shifting the spotlight onto the fans and their experiences, perhaps in the international tournaments of the future the players will increasingly have to share the stage with what has, until now, been the supporting cast.