It’s less than two weeks until the first game of the 2026 World Cup, a global sports extravaganza. And oh, how things have changed. Before the 1950s, soccer tournaments were locally financed. There were sponsors and advertisers, but the events were only lightly commercialized. Now, sponsorships are central. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is expected to become the most commercially lucrative tournament in soccer history, with sponsorship and marketing partnerships alone expected to generate approximately $2.7–$3 billion. But what distinguishes the 2026 World Cup economically is not just the scale of sponsorship revenue, but the integration of branding into every layer of the event: digital media, fan festivals, hospitality, streaming, payments, tourism, and data-driven advertising.
The Cold War and Change
With the onset of the Cold War came a fusion of television, multinational corporations, Cold War ideological competition, and the growth of a mass consumer culture. The Soviet bloc emphasized collective achievement, but Western Capitalism linked freedom to consumer choice.
Sports provided a perfect battleground for the superpower rivals, and soccer was especially important. It was the most popular sport worldwide, outside of the United States.
FIFA tournaments (FIFA is soccer’s governing body) became truly global cultural events, connecting the Eastern and Western blocs and transcending ideological divisions.
The “beautiful game” had a global audience with colonial/postcolonial reach, making it especially important in what was then called the Third World: Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. The sport could mobilize nationalism, attract mass audiences, cross language barriers, and reach fans worldwide through television.
The sport served several purposes. Newly independent nations used soccer to reinforce national identity and anti-colonial prestige, while corporations saw these territories as emerging consumer markets. FIFA became the place where decolonization, nationalism, and multinational capitalism came together.
Mexico 1970
The 1970 World Cup in Mexico was a turning point and is now recognized as marking the birth of modern sports sponsorships as we know them today. This was the year that television changed everything. For the first time, the games were widely broadcast internationally in color. Advertising went global. Logos reached millions. And Adidas and Coca-Cola became Cold War globalizers.
Adidas and Coke
Adidas and Coke remain major players to this day. Here are some important things to know about their relationship to soccer during the Cold War era from the late 1940s to 1989.
- The 1954 World Cup helped establish Adidas’ position in elite soccer. West Germany’s victory in the “Miracle of Bern” was associated with a star player’s innovative screw-in ‘football’ studs — designed and manufactured by Adidas.
- Adidas became FIFA’s official ball supplier in 1970. Their “Telstar” black and white ball was designed to show up clearly on black and white television. This is one of the longest-running relationships in global sports.
- Adidas benefited from soccer’s expansion into the Global South: Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
- Coca-Cola became FIFA’s first major worldwide corporate sponsor.
- Satellite TV and global broadcasting turned the World Cup into a major geopolitical media event. Adidas and Coke monetized this transition before their competitors.
- By the late 1980s, the FIFA-Adidas partnership had created a template still in use today: official balls, exclusive sponsors, global TV rights, branded tournaments, and multinational marketing campaigns.
- Coke, on the other hand, created a more emotional connection by tapping into fans’ feelings about the game.
- Critics argued that these newly created marketing structures gave private commercial entities excessive influence over FIFA decision-making.
The two companies are central to the FIFA story. Adidas and Coca-Cola became the prototypes for copycat Cold War globalizers. But they were very different entities. Adidas emerged from postwar West Germany and was deeply tied to soccer’s modernization: athletic professionalism, televised spectacle, and branded equipment. The company represented technical innovation, European industrial recovery, and the commercialization of athletic identity. Coke, on the other hand, was already a symbol of American capitalism.
Adidas’ fans no longer just watched. They were able to affiliate through branded merchandise.
Coca-Cola was more explicitly ideological. It spread globally alongside the US military, American media, and Western consumer culture. And it saw soccer as a route into worldwide mass markets: Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. The brand represented America’s youth culture, its happiness and prosperity, mobility, and modernity. Through its association with the World Cup, the soft drink expressed nationalism, celebration, emotion, and unity.
The 1980s and 1990s
Between 1974 and 1998, under the leadership of Joao Havelange, FIFA even more aggressively commercialized soccer. Television rights became enormously important, sponsors financed expansion, and soccer audiences grew globally, far beyond Europe and Latin America.
Consumer goods were no longer solely functional. They now held emotional and symbolic significance. Cold War sports capitalism was selling experiences, lifestyles, aspirations, and belonging.
By the 1980s and 1990s, FIFA sponsorship reflected neoliberal globalization. The World Cup was a gigantic advertising platform, a merchandising machine, and a tourism/media event.
Corporate sponsors had options. They could be official partners, regional sponsors, or suppliers. They could also benefit from licensing deals. This structure remains in place today.
Critics argued that commercialization turned the “beautiful game” into a media spectacle, corrupting the sport and transforming it into a big advertising space that celebrated corporate globalization and authoritarian governments. Argentina, the 1978 host, was cited as an example of the game’s politicization. There, the military dictatorship used the tournament to gain legitimacy while multinational branding expanded. (Coming soon: The Secret World Cup: Argentina 1978. Click here to join Cold War Studies. Just enter your email and be notified when this post goes live.)
The World Cup Today
What distinguishes the 2026 World Cup commercially is not just the scale of sponsorship revenue, but the integration of branding into every layer of the event: digital media, fan festivals, hospitality, streaming, payments, tourism, and data-driven advertising. The 2026 tournament’s expansion to 48 teams and 104 matches across the United States, Canada, and Mexico dramatically increases inventory for advertisers, broadcasters, hospitality firms, and consumer brands. Adidas is expected to benefit significantly from merchandise and kit sales, with Reuters reporting that roughly €250 million in World Cup-related bookings had already been recorded in early 2026. Analysts also expect global sportswear firms like Adidas, Nike, and Puma to see measurable sales lifts tied to jerseys, boots, and fan merchandise during the tournament cycle.
(For a look back at the 2010 games, download our free ebook here.)
FIFA has described the tournament as the most valuable global marketing platform in sports, reaching audiences in more than 200 countries. At the same time, the tournament reflects broader geopolitical and economic trends, including the growing role of sovereign wealth funds, multinational tech firms, and North American consumer markets in shaping the future of global football. But fans think of the World Cup differently. They tune in to root for their favorite teams, support their favorite players, and get carried away from the mundane tasks of everyday life. What they care about is one four-letter word. GOAL……..!!!
Get a Head Start
If you’d like to get a head start on the fun, here are three movies I think you’ll enjoy. The blurbs are courtesy of ChatGPT.
Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos is a 2006 feature-length sports documentary about the rise and fall of the New York Cosmos, the star-studded soccer club that briefly turned the North American Soccer League into a global spectacle. It blends interviews, archival footage, and voice-over narration to chronicle how an over-the-top experiment in U.S. pro soccer exploded and then collapsed. Rent on Fandango, Prime, or Apple.
Next Goal Wins is a 2014 sports documentary film directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison. It chronicles the transformation of the American Samoa national football team, once known as the worst in the world, as they strive to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Available for rent on multiple platforms.
Bend It Like Beckham (2002) is a British romantic comedy-drama directed by Gurinder Chadha. The film follows Jesminder “Jess” Bhamra, a British Indian teenager in London whose passion for football clashes with her conservative family’s traditional expectations. It became an international hit for its blend of humor, cultural insight, and uplifting sports narrative. Available to subscribers on Disney+.
Further Reading
In 1991, sixty-one years after the first Men’s World Cup, FIFA officially endorses the first Women’s World Cup to be held in China. However, there is to be no prize money.
