In this Q&A with Christopher Hogg, CRO of Lotame, we discuss the opportunities for brands and marketers around the FIFA World Cup - one of the most hotly anticipated events of 2026..

The 2026 World Cup is expected to be the largest ever, with 48 teams and 104 matches. How does this expanded format influence the commercial opportunities for brands and marketers?

I feel like the word 'unprecedented' gets overused, but there really is no other word for 'World Cup fever' especially with what's anticipated for 2026. Let’s look back on the last one for comparison’s sake: Qatar hosted 32 teams across 64 matches, with 1.42 billion people watching the final. In 2026, there’s a 50% increase in participating teams, with matches spread across three countries for the first time. In terms of attention, it will be the equivalent of 104 Super Bowls in a month.

Commercial opportunities don’t get bigger than this. Even audiences who aren’t interested in the World Cup will be defined, and targeted, through their disinterest. It will be the largest sporting and indeed cultural event in history, and will affect every media planning decision in its wake.

How can brands best use data-driven segmentation to engage these diverse World Cup viewers effectively?

With more countries than ever being represented, there’s a higher likelihood of more engaged viewers, both die-hards and those swept up in the cultural moment. It’s an attention gold mine for any and all types of brands, not just those with an obvious football affinity, such as sporting apparel and energy drinks. The total football saturation across all channels will make segmentation vital for standing out. Understanding who audiences are, what motivates them, and how they consume content will help brands identify moments and authentically plug into the hype.

For example, considerations could include which segments are more mobile-first, which prefer bilingual content, who’s more active on socials, who flies out for games, and who’s getting out of the house on match days versus watching from their sofa. Mapping behaviours can reveal otherwise overlooked overlap between channel and audience, such as the strong podcast appetite among Latin-speaking audiences or the high tendency for sports fans to use public transport and eat at fast food restaurants. Such signals make it easier to get in front of people where they already are, whether that’s a bus stop or a streaming platform.

What are some unique advantages or challenges of marketing during a tri-nation World Cup hosted across the US, Canada, and Mexico?

The sheer scale is an advantage for any ambitious global brands that can meet it. Your spend can stretch surprisingly far when campaigns are delivered to the right city, to the right community, at the right moment through smart and cost-effective adaptations. Between mobile, social, CTV, and DOOH, there is ample opportunity to leverage audience intelligence and identity-driven marketing for hyperlocal activation, though the differences in culture and media infrastructure across the three nations will inevitably add complexity.

For brands and agencies that lack the international footprint for a campaign that crosses borders, the relentless cadence of matches lends itself to a phased strategy mirroring local fans’ emotional ebbs and flows: early hype as qualifiers wrap up, rising consideration as line ups are announced, peak intent once the matches begin, and finally post-World Cup re-engagement once the dust settles to leverage loyalty accumulated throughout the tournament.

Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising and real-time data are increasingly important around big sporting events, but so are traditional channels! How are these channels shaping the marketing strategies?

Fans won’t just be tuning in on one screen; they’ll be watching on social, mobile, and streaming platforms, often more than one at a time. That makes an omnichannel approach, and platforms that can control any duplication, essential. DOOH is particularly strong in host cities, where airports, public transport, fan zones, and city centres become media extensions of the event, but gathering intelligence on fan movements can make targeted DOOH effective in any location. 

At the same time, traditional channels are still the meat and potatoes of many media diets. Sports audiences remain loyal to radio for live updates (expect heavy use in office settings), often use public transport, and engage heavily with retail spaces (online and off) on match days. Audio spots, transit ads, and retail media thus continue to cut through because they align with real-world fan behaviour. Digitisation means many traditional channels now support dynamic creative, which lets you switch up messaging to suit the moment, perfect for keeping pace with the tournament’s ups and downs.

Looking beyond sponsorships, what creative or data-powered approaches can brands take to capture fan attention and activate meaningfully during the World Cup event cycle?

Data capture is a straightforward way to turn flash-in-the-pan cultural excitement into long-term connection. QR codes, giveaways, quizzes, SMS opt-ins, email-gated offers, and light-touch CRM questions around favourite teams or players can all help build lasting relationships. The window when fans are actively searching, engaging, and sharing World Cup media is prime data collection time, but the benefits for audience intelligence and re-engagement can extend long afterwards. It’s critical that brands have a strong data-identity foundation in place to connect these various signals to customer profiles and build out that panoramic view of the consumer. 

On the creative side of the pitch, moment-driven activations, smart ambush marketing, and working with content creators and local venues can instil authenticity without treading on official IP. Keeping on the pulse of memes and commentary can give some quick wins across socials, but beware how easily such attempts can tip over from authentic to appearing forced.

Then there’s geo-targeting, which can enrich an array of touchpoints: geo-fenced social campaigns triggered by match times or location triggers; localised landing pages and offers using team-specific messaging or regional vernacular; watch zone or transit activations; language targeting at a postcode level; and dynamic OOH that changes by daypart or match. Together, these tools allow brands to tap into the fan experience as it unfolds across both the digital and real world.