The World Cup may still be weeks away, but Fox Sports has already claimed an early win — at least in the ad break. The broadcaster’s bold promo campaign "Miracle", which imagines Team USA defying the odds to win the World Cup trophy for the first time, has had the highest emotional impact of any World Cup ad released so far, according to new data from creative intelligence platform DAIVID.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicking off across North America on June 11, brands are already rolling out campaigns in a race to own the summer’s biggest sporting moment. 

DAIVID has been tracking already released World Cup commercials and using its AI-powered creative data platform to rank them by the intensity of positive emotions they generate among viewers, the measure most closely linked to long-term brand impact and effectiveness.

The two-minute film, directed by Lance Acord of Park Pictures and created with Special US, tops DAIVID’s early rankings after generating intense positive emotions among 56.1% of viewers – 15.2% higher than the average ad.

The spot generated intense feelings of hope (+72%), excitement (+85%), and pride (+61%), all significantly above industry averages. The ad also achieved the highest overall effectiveness score after generating above-average attention throughout and 35% higher brand recall than industry benchmarks, putting it in the top 14% of all ads ever tested by DAIVID.

In second place is Lay’s "The Most Epic Watch Party”, starring David Beckham and Steve Carell, with Coca-Cola’s "Bubbling Up" in third place. Hisense’s “Out Host", featuring Terry Crews, and Budweiser’s "The Big Drop" complete the top five. 

Ads that narrowly missed out on DAIVID’s World Cup Ads Chart include Adidas' "Backyard Legends" and Pepsi’s "Pepsi Football Nation Is Here".

Ian Forrester, CEO and founder of DAIVID, said: "The conventional wisdom in advertising is that you make people laugh, or you make them cry. These are the reliable emotional levers. Hope is harder – not the safe, cuddly warmth of a John Lewis Christmas ad or the easy laughs of a celeb-filled Super Bowl spot. It asks the audience to believe in something, which is a big ask in this time of economic and political turmoil. Fox Sports didn't just clear that bar, they set a new one. 'Miracle' is generating intense positive emotions in over half of viewers, the strongest World Cup creative we've seen, and the tournament hasn't even started yet."

Whether Fox Sports’ spot stays in top spot remains to be seen, with DAIVID updating its chart throughout the tournament.

^Methodology

^{DAIVID's World Cup study was compiled using its AI-powered platform. Trained using tens of millions of human responses to ads, the solution predicts the emotions an ad will generate, and its likely impact on brand and business metrics – enabling advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their ad campaigns at scale. Altogether, 31 World Cup ads released online were included in the study. Data for the chart was compiled at 6am (EST) on May 12, 2026. DAIVID will be updating its chart throughout the tournament.}