While many aspects of the relationship between media and sport have been thoroughly studied, systematic comparisons between athletes’ individual self-representation and their portrayal in the media remain lacking. We have endeavored to fill this gap by performing a content analysis of Instagram posts during the 2022 UEFA Women’s Euro and the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup. On a quantitative level, we found that the men’s tournament was more heavily covered than the women’s. Meanwhile, our qualitative findings indicate that women’s football is more politicized by the media (and by the athletes themselves) than men’s football. Moreover, political conflicts in women’s football often take place within the context of the sport, which pushes non-politicized coverage into the background. In the context of the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup, however, we identified more complex conflicts in which the media played an active role; these conflicts pertained to a broader range of issues. Nonetheless, there was substantial coverage of the Men’s tournament that focused exclusively on sport. Future research should strive to include the fan perspective on the politicization of sport.