Brands and retailers are already rushing to capitalize on World Cup fever

While the World Cup is more than seven months away, tickets are already on sale, and companies are getting involved now. Adidas, one of the official partners of the games, debuted its official Trionda game ball in October and rolled out home kits for 22 partner federations — including Italy, Mexico and Spain — this week. Nike is putting the finishing touches on “an exciting new apparel innovation platform” and “several football streetwear collections,” CEO Elliott Hill announced on a Sept. 30 earnings call. Coca-Cola FEMSA — the largest franchise bottler of Coca-Cola trademark beverages in the world, by sales volume — is finalizing World Cup marketing campaigns around Coke Zero.

Small businesses are making plans to get in on the mania, as well. A local taco joint in Philadelphia is developing its own World Cup jersey, though it’s not an officially licensed product. And bars in Boston are planning World Cup watch parties for next summer.

The upcoming World Cup will run from June 11 to July 19, 2026. As with past World Cups, the event is a chance for brands and retailers to get their products in front of as many eyeballs as possible, while also making sales. When the last World Cup was held in Qatar in 2022, Adidas said sales of accessories and gear were up 19% that year. It attributed this to “increased demand in football” stemming from the games. Meanwhile, a World Cup marketing campaign that Coca-Cola ran in 2022 prompted customers to scan 28 million Coke product labels, per the company.

Excitement this time around is particularly high, as 2026 will be the first time the World Cup will be hosted by three countries: the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The World Cup will also make its first return to North America since 1994. FIFA expects World Cup viewership of some 6 billion people — 73% of the world’s population — giving brands a huge opportunity, in terms of selling products like jerseys, hats, flags and other merchandise.

2026 will also be the first time that organizers in each of the 16 host cities can raise funds through local sponsorships, giving more organizations a way into the World Cup, per Sports Business Journal. So far, these include Nestlé Purina PetCare, for Kansas City, and NAPA Auto Parts, for Atlanta. There will also be 16 more participating countries than before — including Jordan and Uzbekistan, which have never previously appeared at the tournament — paving the way for even more reach.

Paired with increased viewership of soccer, in general, all of this is leading brands and retailers to “amplify that excitement,” Sam Margetts, senior creative adviser to the retailer Soccer.com, told Modern Retail.

“If we look back to the last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup, in 1994, that was a huge moment for the sport, in terms of getting eyeballs on the game,” Margetts said. “I sit in on a lot of planning meetings about the World Cup, and I can tell you that, internally, all eyes are on June. [We’re doing] everything we can to promote product and excitement among fans.”

A piece of the pie

Per FIFA’s website, there are three tiers to the official World Cup corporate partnership hierarchy. The first tier, “partners,” includes Aramco, Adidas, Coca-Cola, Hyundai-Kia, Lenovo, Qatar Airways and Visa. The second tier, “sponsors,” includes Michelob Ultra, Bank of America, Hisense, Lay’s, McDonald’s, Mengniu Dairy, Dove Men and Verizon. The third tier, “supporters,” includes Airbnb, Diageo, Rock It Cargo and The Home Depot. The average sponsorship package for the 2022 World Cup cost $63.26 million over a four-year cycle, per GlobalData.

Outside of deals with FIFA, some brands have sponsorships with national teams in the process of trying to qualify for the World Cup. Nike, for instance, is sponsoring the national teams of Brazil, England and Uraguay, among others. Adidas — while a larger FIFA partner, too — is sponsoring 22 teams, including Argentina, Belgium and Germany. Puma is sponsoring the Portugal national team. As with the Olympics, properties that don’t ink official sponsorships will likely look to take advantage of the hype through marketing campaigns and soccer products.

Adidas has been one of the earliest partners to release official merchandise. Its Trionda game ball went on sale on Oct. 2 for $22-$322, depending on size. Adidas held launch events in New York, Toronto and Mexico City, and also projected images of previous World Cup Adidas balls onto the exterior of the Sphere in Las Vegas. An Adidas TikTok of the activation has more than 1.1 million views. “I can report to you that the sell-out of the ball has been fantastic,” CEO Bjørn Gulden said on an earnings call last week.

On Thursday, Nov. 6, Adidas started selling home kits for 22 federations. These have the brand’s CLIMACOOL+ technology and were designed with each nation’s colors and history in mind, Adidas told members of the press at an event on Oct. 1. For instance, the Argentina shirt has blue tones from three previous tournament-winning shirts (1978, 1986 and 2022). The Mexican shirt says “Somos México” (“We are Mexico”) on the back of the neck.

“Every jersey tells a story — blending cultural heritage with modern aesthetics — and is built using our most advanced technologies to keep players cool and comfortable on football’s biggest stage,” Thomas Mace, vp of design at Adidas Football, said in a statement. “This collection represents the future of football jersey design.”

Meanwhile, at Soccer.com, sales of Adidas merchandise are spiking, said Margetts. The company mostly caters to North American customers, although it also ships worldwide. On Soccer.com, sales of Adidas’s official Trionda ball are outpacing sales of previous World Cup balls. Sales of the ball are also 219% more than sales of Adidas balls at this time last year, Margetts said.

“We’re seeing a lot of early interest happening so far out from the tournament,” Margetts said. “It just goes to show that World Cup fever has well and truly hit North America already.” He added that the retailer, which sells brands like Nike and New Balance, expects “a lot of activations, not only from the affiliated sponsors, but also from other sportswear brands and brands that want to have a slice of the pie.”

’47, the hat brand, is one of these. Although not listed as an official sponsor or partner of FIFA, ’47 is looking to take advantage of the hype around the World Cup, its vp of marketing, Patrick Cassidy, told Modern Retail. The brand already has a place in soccer with deals with Arsenal FC and West Ham United FC of the Premier League. “We play in every major sporting event and have the right to play in every major sporting event around the world,” Cassidy shared. “The World Cup is not different. We will have our own way of showing up on that stage.”

Nike, meanwhile, is still trickling out details of its World Cup plan. On Sept. 30, Hill said, “Our global football team is preparing for the energy of the 2026 World Cup and is ready to move forward.” He mentioned rolling out a new “apparel innovation platform that will later be leveraged across other sports” and said that new football streetwear will “connect with a younger consumer.” In an interview with Modern Retail, Nike’s senior creative director of retail and experiences, Tim Rupp, confirmed that “retail is going to be front and center” in the brand’s World Cup experience.

Until Dec. 4, Coca-Cola is holding a promotion with FIFA that it’s calling “Group Guess.” People can enter online to guess the results of the Final Draw for the World Cup, which is a ceremony that determines which teams will compete against each other. They then have a chance to win tickets to a match, as well as flights, ground transportation, a hotel stay and gift cards.

Meanwhile, Ian Marcel Craig García, the CEO of Coca-Cola FEMSA, has said that his company plans to promote Coke Zero. “It’s going to be a hero product there [at the World Cup],” he said on an earnings call on Oct. 24. “It’s going to be highlighted in all of our publicity and marketing campaigns.”

He added, “We anticipate a positive impact on brand equity, due to the World Cup.”