World Cup 2026: Early PR Winners - and a Group Stage Cut
Updated: Aug 18
Even more than the Super Bowl, the World Cup is a brand building moment. The audience is global, every brand with a budget shows up, and the spends are enormous. Played this year across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, it's one of the biggest on record: 104 matches across 3 countries and 39 days.
So given that we're just days in, there are already clear World Cup 2026 PR winners - and one media brand (cough cough) that needs constructive feedback. Consider this a debrief, not a highlight reel, with more to come. Here is what has stood out so far outside of the matches themselves.
The great language divide: English vs. Spanish
My husband and I spent the first few days trying to find an English language broadcast of the World Cup. We have every streaming platform imaginable (other than Fox One…foreshadowing), and basic Spectrum cable. We're watching the World Cup in Spanish via Telemundo on Peacock (both NBCUniversal).
Why can’t we access the English language broadcast? Because the U.S. World Cup rights are split by language across competing media companies: Fox holds the English language rights, while NBCUniversal holds the Spanish language rights. The free, most-watchable path is Spanish while English got pushed toward cable and a paywall.
Telemundo is carrying 92 of 104 matches free over the air in Spanish.
The English language side is more convoluted: the marquee matches will reportedly air for free on the Fox broadcast network: the opener, all three USMNT games, every knockout from the Round of 16, and the Final. But 34 group-stage matches - a third of the games on right now - are FS1-only (Fox Sports 1, the cable sports channel).
And the kicker, if you’re a Spectrum | Charter subscriber, in a 2024 reshuffle the company reportedly (and quietly) bumped FS1 up to "Select Plus" across a swath of markets, giving millions of subscribers the "sorry, upgrade required” message we got. So if you’re a basic-cable Spectrum household like mine, or a cord cutter who doesn’t want to pay for Fox One, you’re out of luck for many of the games in English. It all leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And with an ever-improving Spanish vocabulary.
The big ol' silver lining is that the Spanish-speaking U.S. futbol fans are getting their due.
Fox Grade: C- - they misread the room, and the fan base. This is a group stage fail - and cut.
Spectrum | Charter: C+ - in fairness, the team likely did not think through this specific scenario, but still....
Telemundo: A - reading the moment while getting much broader audience exposure and reach.
The soundtrack heard 'round the world
One of the most valuable marketing components around this World Cup, in my view, is the soundtrack. The mashup of global musicians, styles, collabs is poetry.
The official anthem, DNA, unites Andrea Bocelli (Italy), David Guetta (France), Megan Thee Stallion (U.S.), and EJAE (South Korea), blending opera, EDM, hip-hop, and K-pop into one track.
The official World Cup album, an 18-track compilation, kicks off with Dai Dai (Shakira - Colombia, and Burna Boy - Nigeria) featuring the rad dancing of The Triplets Ghetto Kids (Uganda). The rest of the joyful and celebratory album travels the globe, with artists and songs that include:
And then there's Bad Bunny, who isn't on the official album but may be the tournament's loudest musical signal anyway: he anchors the Adidas film/campaign (more below) in the same year he headlined the Super Bowl halftime show.
The universality of music, and the specific artists FIFA chose to spotlight, is a master class in cultural relevance that is serving a global, multilingual audience.
FIFA Grade: A+ - this is what a brand campaign looks like when it is led with humanity.
Adidas vs. Nike: the other (very theatrical) World Cup final
Okay, who was the brand strategy leaker, and who was the copycat? The athletic gear titans have not disappointed with differentiated yet cosmically similar integrated campaigns: star-studded theatrical shorts, music and entertainment crossovers, brand and personality product collabs, and staggered product drops.
The creative: narrative-driven theatrical shorts
Adidas's Backyard Legends is a cinematic, nostalgia-soaked short with Timothée Chalamet assembling a team to face an undefeated backyard trio, paying off with Messi and Bad Bunny, rooted in grassroots, community-level football. Nike's Rip the Script is a meta-comedy: a director loses control of his own shoot as the ball takes over a Hollywood mega-studio, a rallying cry for instinctive, joyful play.
The casts: more budget than you'll make in a lifetime
Both are stacked. Adidas leans into Messi, Beckham, Zidane, Bellingham, Lamine Yamal, Trinity Rodman, plus Bad Bunny (win), and Chalamet. Nike goes wider into pop culture with Ronaldo, Mbappé, Haaland, Vini Jr., and Ronaldinho alongside LeBron James, Serena Williams, Travis Scott, Kim Kardashian, and Ted Lasso.
The verdict: they are both masterful
Adidas wins on release date, getting out well ahead of Nike to net a lot of earned stories and sentiment before Nike even came to the pitch. Nike is winning the raw numbers, with 76 million views to date. But I think we can call them both winners: Adidas has reported product sales tied to its push, and Nike's pre-announced distributed payoff should accrue across the tournament rather than in a launch-week spike.
But I can't help thinking Adidas has the same tricks up its sleeve. Clearly, we need to see the backyard trio play Bellingham, Rodman, and Yamal.
Cumulative Adidas + Nike Grade: A - well played, fully integrated, captivating campaigns. They’re titans for a reason.
The hydration break: friend or foe?
The debate is on: are the new hydration breaks good for the players and teams, or merely a commercial opportunity? My hope is that the former share their thoughts post-Cup. As a marketer, and also as a fan who needs a hydration, snacks, and potty breaks, I can see both sides.
Telemundo, however, broke with the decision and chose to forgo ads during these breaks to keep the cameras rolling.
So while commercial interests may have driven the decision, I hope that there is an upside for the teams, and if there is not, that they kill it for 2030 (and don't add these breaks to the other World Cup, you know the one, with the U.S. team with the highest winning rates in international sport).
Telemundo Grade: A - true to their fan base and the sport.
FIFA Grade: TBD - the jury is still out. The FIFA comms team may need to answer for this one.
The throughline: World Cup 2026 PR winners
Stepping back from the grades and here's what this World Cup really shows: marketing, when it's good, is one of the most human things we make. The kind that reads the room, speaks multiple languages, and hands you a feeling you didn't know you were waiting for.
Every winner here did exactly that. Telemundo met its audience where it actually lives. FIFA's soundtrack turned the world into one playlist. Adidas and Nike spent Hollywood money to make films that people are choosing to watch - and share. All of these efforts work because they were made with care. (Side note: Japan fans win for rad and respectful culture).
The brands that treat this World Cup as a moment to connect are being carried by it. Resonance must be carefully, intentionally, lovingly crafted - and when a brand truly earns it, it stops feeling like marketing at all. It feels like a goal.
We'll be watching the knockouts - on Peacock, obviamente.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Adidas or Nike winning the 2026 World Cup ad battle?
Both, with opposite bets. Adidas's Backyard Legends concentrates on one cinematic, game-rooted film (Messi, Bad Bunny, Timothée Chalamet) and released first, earning strong "better ad" sentiment and reported product sales. Nike's Rip the Script (six minutes, 30-plus stars) leans pop-culture and won raw reach with roughly 76 million YouTube views to date. The open question is which brand earns more trust, and conversion, over a 39-day tournament.
Why is the 2026 World Cup hard to watch in English in the U.S.?
U.S. rights are split by language. Spanish-language Telemundo carries 92 of 104 matches free over the air, with Peacock handling Spanish streaming.
English coverage runs across the Fox Sports One (FS1), and Fox's paid Fox One streaming service - with one third of group round games only available on Fox's cable and streaming tiers. In addition, many basic Charter | Spectrum customers have to upgrade or pay to watch in English.
How many 2026 World Cup teams are Spanish-speaking?
Eight of the 48 qualified nations - Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador, and Panama - roughly one in six teams. Add Portuguese-speaking Brazil and Latin America fields nearly a fifth of the tournament.
Why did Telemundo skip ads during hydration breaks?
Telemundo chose to forgo commercials during in-match cooling/hydration breaks and keep the cameras rolling on the broadcast - a fan-first call, even as the breaks themselves draw debate over whether they serve players or commercial interests.
