Opinion Leaders
The winner of the upcoming World Cup has already been decided
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Alexis Bienvenu
Fund Manager
La Financière de l’Échiquier (LFDE)
The kick-off for the upcoming Men’s World Cup is just around the corner. The tournament, hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, will take place from 11 June to 19 July. But its winner – or rather, its winners – have already been decided.
Is it the advertising sector? Yes, in part, as around $11 billion in advertising spend is expected, according to the consultancy WARC1. But this figure is hardly remarkable: it is of the same order of magnitude as that of the last World Cup in Qatar, and even lower than that of 2018 in Russia.
Is it the tourism industry, then? Absolutely, as tourism expenditure linked to the event is expected to exceed $7 billion according to FIFA’s projections2, compared with around $2 to $4 billion for the last World Cup, according to the IMF. Foreign spectators are expected to spend an average of $5,000 during their stay, according to the US Travel Association.
This windfall stems from the tournament’s colossal scale: taking place across three countries for the first time, involving 16 host cities, it will feature an unprecedented number of teams – 48 instead of 32 – allowing for a record number of matches – 104 instead of 64 – involving more countries, tickets and viewers.
More broadly speaking, the global economy will be the real winner. According to FIFA, an additional $40 billion in GDP is expected to be generated, creating more than 800,000 full-time equivalent jobs and generating $9 billion in tax revenue through direct and indirect taxes. This economic boost will certainly be centred on the United States but will also be widely shared with other countries. Indeed, it is in Mexico that the economic impact is expected to be most significant, adding around 0.14% to GDP growth in 2026 according to a Deloitte study3, whilst the figures are two to three times lower for the United States and Canada.
But beneath the surface, beyond these purely quantitative aspects, another major winner is emerging: technology. For this World Cup will be the first of the era of widespread AI. It will permeate every area. Before the match, an analysis assistant, ‘Football AI Pro’, will be provided to teams to give them insights into the upcoming match. Once the players are on the pitch, AI will play a part in refereeing and analysing the game. 3D avatars of the players will be used to shed light on high-stakes moments, replacing simple video replays. The match broadcast itself will be ‘augmented’ by an AI-stabilised ‘referee’s view’ camera, offering an immersive angle. Around the match, the organisation will rely on ‘smart command centres’ modelling ‘digital twins’ of the infrastructure, capable of centralising various information streams to manage spectator flows.
This technological shift will rely on a massive flow of data, much of which will be generated not by the match itself but by the wider digital ecosystem surrounding it, such as social media comments and live streaming. The competition will therefore also serve as a technological showcase.
But which company has been chosen to fulfil this key role of AI architecture in the tournament? None other than Lenovo, a Chinese company whose shareholding structure remains partly linked to a foundation closely connected to the Chinese public sector. FIFA is therefore placing a Chinese player at the heart of the world’s biggest sporting event.
China is not only making its presence felt through Lenovo. It is also involved in the broadcasting infrastructure via the company Hisense and is making inroads into consumer markets through sponsorship by Mengniu, a Chinese dairy giant.
From a quality perspective, the winner of the 2026 World Cup is therefore a foregone conclusion: an intelligence empire that is making its mark at the heart of football and its technological revolution.
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Disclaimers
These data and opinions from LFDE, as well as the sectors and companies mentioned, are provided for information purposes only and, as such, do not constitute an offer to buy or sell any security, nor do they constitute investment advice or financial analysis. The opinions are those of the author and do not in any way constitute a commitment from LFDE. Past performance is not an indication of future performance.
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1https://www.warc.com/en/article/global-ad-trends-fifa-world-cup-2026-4c16bd04c2894377b02195965cf47366
2https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/152f754a8e1b3727/original/FIFA-World-Cup-2026-Socioeconomic-impact-analysis.pdf
3https://www.deloitte.com/latam/es/services/financial-advisory/perspectives/preparate-para-el-mundial-nuevas-oportunidades-para-los-negocios.html
