CELTIC may have won the league but Rangers are still the world's "favourite Scottish football club" -- and even have a fan in the Vatican -- according to a study.
Researchers analysed Google search trends for all 42 of Scotland's senior football clubs to discover which ones attracted the most interest worldwide last year.
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Data provider Semrush looked at searches in 225 different places around the world.
The Glasgow giants both claim a global fanbase and were predictably out in front with more than a million searches each per month.
Rangers -- who defeated their city rivals at Ibrox on Saturday -- emerged on top overall with 1,343,925 searches per month on average in 2022 compared with Celtic's 1,117,073. Aberdeen (295,167 per month) were third ahead of Hearts (277,425).
Rangers received the most clicks in Scotland, across the UK and in countries like America and Zambia -- home nations of midfield star Malik Tillman and Saturday's match-winner Fashion Sakala.
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Celtic were firm favourites in boss Ange Postecoglu's Australia and in Japan, where five of their stars including World Cup star Daizen Maeda call home as well as in Ireland, where the club has historic links.
But the findings also reveal support for other Scottish clubs and bragging rights in some unexpected locations.
Hearts got the most clicks in Lavia, for example, possibly due to their clashes with champions RFS in the Europa Conference League, while Kilmarnock had most fans in Malta.
Hibs attracted the most attention in the British Virgin Islands, while Aberdeen appear to have the most fans in the Caribbean island of Montserrat.
In an amusing twist, the research shows an average of just one single Google search per month in the Vatican City for any Scottish football team -- and it is for Rangers.
Rangers' global success in 2022 was boosted significantly by their run to the Europa League Final in May. Despite losing on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt, there were 2,754,800 global searches for Gers that month.
Celtic peaked in October when they attracted 1,836,600 searches ahead of their Champions League clash with European giants Real Madrid.
Scotland's top 10 most popular football clubs worldwide
Average Google searches per month 2022 (Semrush)
1. Rangers 1,343,925
2. Celtic 1,117,073
3. Aberdeen 295,167
4. Hearts 277,425
5. Dundee 128,625
6. Hibs 93,383
7. Kilmarnock 88,843
8. Motherwell 71,092
9. Arbroath 59,708
10. Livingston 53,358
Semrush took into account different names clubs might be known as, while all searches had to include the suffix "FC" to avoid confusion with the names of towns, cities and other sports clubs around the world.
Global searches for Rangers FC climbed by 23.51% compared with 2021 while searches for Celtic also leapt by 9.53%. But throughout Scottish football, Annan Athletic (+188.94%) were the biggest climbers compared with 2021.
Arbroath (+137.88%), massively increased global awareness as the part-timers agonisingly missed out on a fairytale promotion to the Premiership -- pushing Falkirk out of Scotland's global top ten for the year, while Hearts got a boost from their European adventures.
The biggest dip, according to the data, was suffered by Brechin City (-54.15%), as they finished bottom of League Two and dropped into the Highland League.
Olga Andrienko, of Semrush, said: "Celtic, under new boss Ange Postecoglu, regained the league title in 2022, but the new research from Semrush shows that it was their archrivals Rangers who created most awareness, growing their global appeal 23% year-on-year.
"Rangers’ remarkable run to the Europa League final in Seville ended in defeat, but it had a significant effect on online search volumes across the globe – boosting global interest that month by over 1.2million searches.
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"Glasgow's big two received the most attention, with Celtic way out in front in places like Australia, Japan and Ireland as one might expect, and Rangers on top in the UK, the USA and Canada.
"But this research always throws up some unexpected finds, such as the average of one online search for a Scottish club in the Vatican City -- and it was for Rangers.
"They didn't have it all their own way, however, as famous Scottish football clubs like Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs and even Arbroath created a stir with fans all over the world."
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