You've probably never heard of a man called Chris Messina, but you've almost certainly followed his lead.

Because exactly 10 years ago, former Google and Uber engineer Messina set a trend. And it is a trend that has quite literally been followed for the next decade.

With Twitter still in its infancy, Messina asked if using the 'pound' sign (an American term for what we now all know as the hashtag) could be used for putting tweets into groups, and a global phenomenon was born.

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Image:
PA)

Hashtags then started to gain more and more popularity on the social networking site as people sought to interact with likeminded people, and naturally football fans were at the forefront of that.

Supporters wanting to speak to fellow fans about the issues around their teams needed only to search for their team's official hashtag, but which are the most tweeted football terms?

Well, Twitter have told us as part of their #Hashtag10 celebrations, with football terms making up plenty of the 125 million hashtags now used daily around the globe.

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Image:
Getty Images Europe)

Taking only a team, tournament or the sport's official hashtag into account, here's the top 10.

10. #FCBLive

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AFP/Getty Images)

The added 'Live' element to Barcelona's official hashtag has probably confused fans, with #Barca and #ViscaBarca acting as popular alternatives.

9. #Arsenal

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Image:
PA)

Gunners fans won't like their team being down in ninth, and they'd probably be higher if their official hashtag followed along the more conventional line of #AFC, but #Arsenal has been seen 17 million times on Twitter.

8. #WorldCup

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Image:
Shaun Botterill - FIFA)

The 2014 World Cup generated an incredible 672 million tweets, with the most popular match being Germany's 7-1 semi-final hammering of Brazil, which produced 35.6 million tweets, many with this hashtag.

7. #Euro2016

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Getty)

Two years later, the Euros in France were the talk of football fans around the globe, with 27 million tweets sent when Portugal beat the hosts in the final.

6. #Football

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Getty Images Europe)

Because sometimes you just that element of simplicity.

5. #UCL

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Real Madrid/Getty)

The Champions League's official hashtag is next on the list, with Barcelona's stunning comeback to beat Paris Saint-Germain earlier this year generating a stunning 6.1 million tweets .

4. #CFC

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Darren Walsh)

Chelsea's #CFC hashtag has popped up on Twitter some 44 million times, with the Blues winning fans as they've won three Premier League titles and the Champions League over what we're now calling the hashtag decade.

3. #LFC

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Action Images via Reuters)

Liverpool's official #LFC hashtag is the third most common one sighted on the social network, with people tweeting it a huge 54 million times over the last 10 years.

2. #HalaMadrid

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Angel Martinez)

At one million more than Liverpool comes Real Madrid, with #HalaMadrid a popular cry among their fans, and translating loosely as "Go, Madrid!"

1. #MUFC

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Image:
Action Images via Reuters)

And Manchester United fans will doubtless be delighted to know that their #MUFC hashtag is football's most popular, coming in at 71 million tweets - which is exactly the same amount of Liverpool and Arsenal's official hashtags combined.

Now that's something to tweet about, United fans.

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