The marketing power of the World Cup

There are very few events that can command the world’s attention in the way the FIFA World Cup does.

Alongside events such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games, it sits at the top of the global sporting calendar. But unlike multi-sport competitions where attention is spread across dozens of disciplines and storylines, the World Cup pulls everything into one place: football, and the matches that define it.

For four weeks, the sport takes over daily conversation. Results dominate headlines, highlights are replayed constantly, and every decision is scrutinised in real time. VAR calls that go against a team in stoppage time, unexpected group-stage results that overturn predictions, and tactical decisions that split opinion all become talking points far beyond the stadiums themselves.

Social media reflects this almost instantly. One contentious offside or penalty decision can generate hours of debate across X, TikTok and Instagram Reels. At the same time, workplaces and group chats become extensions of the tournament; dissecting line-ups, arguing over substitutions, and reacting to results that felt unlikely the night before.

A clear example of how quickly narratives travel has been Scotland’s qualification for their first World Cup since 1998. That return alone has become one of the key talking points of the build-up, not just in the UK but across wider football communities.

The Tartan Army’s presence online has helped amplify that story in its own way, with hundreds of videos circulating across TikTok and Instagram Reels showing supporters taking over city centres, filling pubs and bringing a sense of humour and occasion to host locations. In Boston and other early host cities, local residents have actively engaged with visiting Scottish fans, with clips showing shared celebrations and a warm reception to their arrival.

Much of this user-generated content focuses on the atmosphere they create – bagpipes played through streets, large group gatherings, spontaneous singing, traffic cones appearing on statues and landmarks, and the general sense of light-hearted chaos that follows major tournament crowds. Alongside this, posts showing fans tidying up after celebrations have also been widely shared, reinforcing their reputation of good humour and respect. Across platforms, this has strengthened admiration for Scotland’s supporters and, in turn, increased support for the team itself.

That is what makes the World Cup a powerful marketing opportunity.

Unlike many major sporting events, it is not concentrated in a single country or shaped around one type of audience. It is watched across every continent, bringing together supporters from different cultures, backgrounds and generations, all focused on the same matches at the same time. It creates a genuinely global stage where attention is not just large, but synchronised.

But the opportunity for brands does not sit in one channel — it sits across several layers of media that all reinforce each other at once. Broadcast coverage sets the agenda, with punditry, analysis and highlight packages shaping what people talk about the next day. The press then carries those moments further, turning key incidents and talking points into headlines and stories that reach even people who are not watching the matches themselves. Social platforms amplify the same narratives in real time, driven by short clips, fan reactions and controversial moments. At the same time, messaging apps and group chats carry those debates into more personal spaces, where opinions are formed, changed, or reinforced between friends.

Advertising sits across the entire experience. Brands appear on pitch side advertising boards during live matches, in ad breaks throughout broadcasts, and across wider TV channels showing unrelated programming, reaching audiences who are not actively watching the game. Together, these placements mean a single campaign can follow the tournament conversation while also extending beyond it, reaching both engaged fans and wider viewers across multiple touch points.

This overlap is where marketing becomes most effective. It is not just about being visible during matches, but about understanding how a moment moves from a broadcast decision to a social clip, to a conversation in a pub, office or kitchen the next morning.

That’s why campaigns during the World Cup tend to work best when they react to what is already happening rather than trying to force their own narrative into it. Here are some this year’s winning examples:

Adidas | Backyard Legends

This year, for this World Cup cycle, adidas released Backyard Legends, a five-minute film that feels closer to a short movie than a traditional advert.

It follows a fictional street football team in New York across different eras, narrated by Timothée Chalamet, and brings together an unexpected mix of footballers and cultural names including Messi, Bellingham, Lamine Yamal, Bad Bunny and others.

What makes the ad work is that it doesn’t really try to sell anything directly. There’s no hard product push, no obvious messaging. Instead, it leans into something simple — football as

something that exists everywhere, whether on a pitch, a grass field, in a stadium or on the streets.

That’s why people respond to it, it feels like Adidas understands the way football is experienced when you’re growing up around it, not just how it looks on a broadcast. The scale of the production helps the ad expand reach, but the idea at the centre is what people connect with.

LEGO | Everyone Wants a Piece

This year, for this World Cup period, LEGO went in the opposite direction of most tournament advertising.

Instead of going loud or complex, they built the entire idea around a single moment: four of football’s biggest names sitting around a table, slowly building a LEGO trophy together.

Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappé and Vinícius Jr aren’t there to compete in the usual sense. They’re just building something side by side, which is exactly why it stands out.

The simplicity is the point. It strips away everything that usually surrounds football marketing — no big storyline, no overproduction — and replaces it with something childlike and familiar. That sense of play is what makes it work: it reinforces that LEGO isn’t just for children, but for anyone, including the biggest names in football, all engaging with it in the same way.

Deliveroo | Deliver Us To Fútbol

For this World Cup, Deliveroo’s first global tournament campaign, developed alongside DoorDash and Wolt, ocuses on what happens around live football rather than the matches themselves.

The 30-second film is shot from a rider’s point of view, capturing the rhythm of matchdays: ordering food, waiting during key moments, and reacting as the game unfolds in real time.

Featuring appearances from Kaká, Alex Morgan and Khaby Lame, the campaign runs across TV, digital, social and outdoor channels.

Rather than trying to place itself inside the tournament narrative, the work reflects how football is actually watched at home around the world — not as a single focused viewing experience, but alongside everyday routines, interruptions, conversations, and everything else happening in the house at the same time.

For PR and marketing teams, the World Cup is a reminder that successful campaigns are often built around subjects people are already invested in. When a major event captures

the attention of the world, brands that react at the right speed, in the right place, can become part of conversations that are already happening.

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