The news: As the FIFA World Cup approaches, marketers are awaiting a chance to reach passionate fans at scale—but that opportunity may be narrower than expected. Just 10% of Americans express interest in the tournament, placing the US among the countries with the lowest percentage of World Cup followers, per Fifty5Blue (formerly Kantar Media).

• Some global markets have nearly five times the volume of World Cup fans as the US. Countries with the largest share of high net worth World Cup fans include India, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines.
• 24% of connected adults globally follow the World Cup.

The data also shows that World Cup followers are among the highest net worth sports fans: 18% are likely to have a high net worth compared with 10% of adults overall.

• World Cup fans were more likely than adults overall to spend on high-cost projects in the next 12 months, including traveling abroad, renovating or extending homes, and buying a new car.

Why it matters: Low US interest doesn’t rule the World Cup out as an advertising opportunity, but it does raise the stakes for precise audience targeting and market selection.

• The World Cup remains one of the world’s biggest sports stages: The 2022 final drew 1.5 billion viewers, far outpacing Super Bowl LVI’s 101 million and the most recent Super Bowl’s 124.9 million.
• FIFA expects the 2026 World Cup to set new audience records, with about 6 billion fans engaging with the competition.
• Smaller or uneven audiences don’t diminish the broader value of sports advertising. Fans tend to be receptive to in-game sponsors, and over half of US adults say in-game commercials are more entertaining than typical ads, per DISQO—making live sports a strong marketing environment.

Takeaways for marketers:

• The World Cup gives advertisers a rare chance to reach a large, diverse global audience, including consumers who may be overlooked in typical media plans. Its broad international reach can help brands build visibility across markets, while the tournament’s weeks-long schedule creates repeated opportunities to drive engagement and affinity.
• Brands whose audiences already skew higher income can use the World Cup to deepen interest among these consumers; targeting them specifically may be enough to drive ROAS and revenues, even without broad reach.
• Brands focused specifically on the US market still have an opening: While American fans may be fewer in number, they’re highly active across screens—59% of US soccer fans say they’re very or somewhat likely to use a second screen while watching 2026 World Cup matches. That gives marketers a chance to reach a smaller but more attentive audience at the exact moment fans are engaging with World Cup content.

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