Joe Kinsey
Videos by OutKick
The last time I checked in with the “World’s Hottest Soccer Fan” Ivana Knoll she was bursting out of a bikini in a country where we were told women would have their heads chopped off if they showed skin during the World Cup.
She survived.
In fact, by the end of the tourney, it seemed like the hardliners not only weren’t going to chop off Knoll’s head, it appeared they were going to name a street after her.
We turned the page on the World Cup and then I pretty much ignored all Knoll Doll content because it was the same stuff over and over again. But now it’s June and it just feels right to see what various ways Ivana is influencing the soccer world this summer.
It turns out she spent the weekend in Rotterdam at the Nations League final where her beloved Croatians were taking on Spain and her influencing duties were needed. She was in the Netherlands trying to will the boys to victory, but it wasn’t enough.
The 30-year-old Knoll’s beloved Croatians fell on penalty kicks as Dani Carvajal scored the winner and sent Knoll Doll home to think about what could have been.
“I am only having fun with everybody. I suppose people like me because I am good looking. I am not interested in meeting with anybody here. My intention is to make people smile, that is all,” Knoll said last year of her roll as the “World’s Hottest Soccer Fan.”
“The fans I meet everywhere love me. But when I go to matches now, my friends won’t sit with me and move away to other seats because of the cameras.”
According to the Instagram bikini veteran, business is booming. She now has her own line of bikinis for women who want to support their countries by showing some skin. And Knoll Doll continues to travel the world doing what she’s good at.
The European tabloids still track her every move and the headlines just keep coming.
Knoll’s run is reminiscent of fellow 30-year-old Paige Spiranac’s run here in the U.S. The two of them have been very smart in how they’ve worked with the gambling industry and how they’ve been able to keep the algorithm stoked with headline-inducing content.
It’s nice to see influencers turn 30 and refuse to slow down just because of their age. Let this be a lesson to all the pretenders looking to take Knoll Doll’s spot atop the mountain.
She’s showing no signs of losing a step.
