Stop using a soccer-related password ExpressVPN warns football fans that's
an own goal for digital privacy

Date:
Wed, 24 Jun 2026 13:28:20 +0000

Description:
A new study by ExpressVPN and cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler
reveals that millions of football fans are putting their online security at risk by using predictable soccer-related terms, team names, and jersey
numbers in their passwords.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter 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." You may like 7 in 10 World Cup football fans are ready to put their digital privacy at risk, warns ExpressVPN ExpressVPN becomes an official supporter of the
FIFA World Cup 2026 in biggest sports deal yet and gives away over 50
premium tickets My 5 top tips for choosing a good password 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 used soccer-related information to secure an account.

Among these fans, the most common choices included their favorite team names, player names or nicknames, and jersey numbers. These easily searchable statistics are exactly what malicious actors look for when compiling custom dictionaries to breach an account.

The fans themselves are surprisingly aware of the risk. In the US, a massive 73.1% of those using soccer-themed passwords acknowledged that someone familiar with their sporting interests could likely guess their login.

This vulnerability is compounded by the fact that many fans are already putting their digital privacy at risk through other careless online behaviors during the tournament. What to read next We take a look at some of the
biggest threats facing fans at the World Cup 2026 One month out from the
World Cup, and scammers are already targeting fans 'This enormous
demand...has made the football tournament a magnet for fraud': Experts warn scammers are ramping up their work ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 here's how to avoid being hit How to protect your accounts Using a weak password becomes catastrophic when you consider password reuse. According to Aaron Engel, Chief Information Security Officer at ExpressVPN, the habit of using the same login across multiple services is what turns a minor breach into a full-scale privacy crisis.

"Password reuse is what allows one exposed credential to become a wider account-security problem," warned Engel.

He also noted that fans who share streaming logins put their personal data in further jeopardy: "Sharing passwords increases the number of people and devices that may hold that password; in doing so, users are putting their security into the hands of others. Multi-factor authentication doesn't undo reuse, but it can prevent a stolen password from being enough on its own."

If you want to stay safe while streaming the tournament, you should immediately strip any sports references out of your logins. Instead, use a dedicated password manager to generate complex, unique credentials for every account.

It is also a great time to ensure your overall connection is encrypted, particularly if you are wondering whether to use a VPN to watch the World Cup .

Just keep in mind that new ExpressVPN users still have a chance to win a premium ticket for the World Cup, but you won't get its usual 30-day money-back guarantee . Today's best VPN deals NordVPN 2 Year 2.59 /mth View
+3 months free Surfshark 24 Months 1.49 /mth View Proton VPN 24 Month 2.39 /mth View +4 MONTHS FREE ExpressVPN 24 month 1.99 /mth View We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices Follow TechRadar on Google
News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/stop-using-a-soccer-related -password-expressvpn-warns-football-fans-thats-an-own-goal-for-digital-privacy


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)