Stop using a soccer-related password — ExpressVPN warns football fans it’s an own goal for digital privacy
Publish Date: 2026-06-24 09:28:00
Source Domain: www.techradar.com
- Past breach data show over 1.1 million soccer-related passwords
- ExpressVPN found that nearly 1 in 4 football fans use this info in their logins
- Experts urge to delete any sports references from account logins’ details
As the FIFA World Cup kicks into high gear, millions of fans are displaying their loyalty online. While you might already be using the best VPN to secure your browsing, ExpressVPN — now an official supporter of the 2026 tournament — is warning that this very public fandom can translate into a major cybersecurity vulnerability.
In a new research report, cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler partnered with ExpressVPN to examine how soccer obsession influences our password choices. The results suggest that fans are openly handing hackers the keys to their digital lives by using highly predictable phrases.
Fowler’s analysis of historical data breaches revealed more than 1.1 million soccer-related passwords. Words like “soccer,” alongside massive club names such as “Liverpool,” “Chelsea,” “Arsenal,” and “Barcelona,” appeared repeatedly throughout the dataset.
Because fan loyalty is incredibly public, plastered across social media profiles, usernames, and group chats, these passwords are far easier to crack than a random string of characters.
“As a cybersecurity researcher, I’ve seen criminals target people through the interests they share most openly,” Fowler explained. “A club name, player nickname, shirt number, stadium, city, or tournament year may look harmless on its own, but together those details can help someone guess how a fan might build a password or craft a message they’re more likely to trust.”
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An open goal for cybercriminals
(Image credit: ExpressVPN)
To determine if this behavior remains common today, ExpressVPN surveyed 6,000 football fans across six countries. The findings confirm that bad password hygiene is still widespread.
Nearly one in four surveyed fans admitted to having…
